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THE APOSTLES: 



THEIR LIVES, 



AND 



LABORS. 



BY 

REV. d; f. brendlk a. m., 

\\ ■ 

Author of the " Prodigal Son."^.,.^^-.--:-*-.^,.^.,^^^^ 



/-' V 



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READING, PA.: 

DANIEL MILLER, 113 North Sixth St. 

BETHLEHEM, PA.: 

REV. D. F. BRENDLE. 



HL 






Entered, acoorditii^ to Act of (%)ii«jcress, in the year 1881, 

BY D. F. BllKNDLK, 
In the Office of the Lil)rarian of Cont^rsss, at Washington. 



TO 

MY SAINTED PARENTS, 

WHO, 

DURING MANY YEARS 

OF THEIR LONG AND USEFUL LIFE, 

CHEERED AND UPHELD ME 

IN MY 

[OUS MU 

AND WHOM, 

AFTER THIS LIFE, 

I HOPE TO REJOIN IN THE 

REALMS OF ETERNAL LOVE, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS DUTIFULLY AND HUMBLY 

INSCRIBED. 



PREFACE. 



The work is done, the book is written. It has 
closely occupied the time at my cc^mmand for this pur- 
pose during the last five years. 

In gathering the material for it, I held myself firmly 
to my original design — to write a book on the Lives 
and Labors of the Apostles, which, both as to faith and 
moralsj might be safely placed in the hands of every 
one. I have, as far as possible, avoided the use of sci- 
entific terms, and endeavored to be popular both in style 
and the arrangement of the matter, so as to make my 
language easily understood also by the common reader. 

Our Saviour teaches us many important lessons 
through the Lives and Labors of His Apostles as re- 
corded in the New Testament — lessons, which cannot be 
too often pondered, or too much taken to heart. They 
being dead, yet speak in their Acts as well as in their 
written words. Look at the Apostles, and see them. 
Listen, and hear them. I have endeavored to set before 
the reader a continuous and consistent account of each 
Apostle^s life and life-work, not in detached parts, but 
— -for so it was lived — as a unit or connected whole, har- 

(v) 



VI P K E P A C E . 

monious throughout. The best authorities on the sub- 
ject have been diligently consulted and freely used; and 
the author's indebtedness to other laborers in this field, 
is here and throughout the work appropriately ac- 
knowledged. 

To the Rev. Isaac K. Loos, of this place, I feel 
grateful for important suggestions and aid in the prepa- 
ration of this book. With this brief introductory, I lay 
ray work at the feet of our Lord and Master, beseeching 
Him to bless its reading to the temporal and eternal 
welfare of His people. D. F. B. 

Bethlehem, Pa., Jan. 188L 



INTRODUCTION. 



There are few subjects which have more interest to 
the followers of our Lordaud Saviour Jesus Christ, than 
the history of the lives and labors of the disciples, whom 
He called to be His Apostles. These men had been 
with the Saviour, and were personallv tauglit by Him, 
at least three years. These Apostles or commissioners 
He also endowed with power and wisdom from on high, 
so as to enable them to carry forward successfully the 
work of salvation in the upbuilding of that kingdom 
which He came to establish for the Redemption of 
mankind. While they were thus engaged in the spread 
of the Gospel and the propagation of the Christian Re- 
ligion, they were preserved by the Holy Ghost from 
committing any error. 

The word Apostle means one ^* cquipped,^^ '^fitted 
out,'^ or sent forth as a commissioner on son^e important 
business, in the name and by the authority of Christ. 
The Lord had chosen twelve such Apostles, who were 
His most intimate friends and constant companions, 
during His earthly life. They were Galileans, taken from 
the humble walks of life, and did not possess great 

(vii) 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

natural advantages for communicating divine truth 
among learned foreigners, but were rather illiterate men. 
Their mission was namely to labor among the Jews in 
Palestine and the East. One of these, Judas Iscariot, 
became a traitor, and at last sold his Lord and Master 
for thirty pieces of silver. True, he repented of his 
wickedness when Christ was about to be condemned to 
the cross, but not like Peter, who repented, believed and 
was pardoned ; no, he repented, despaired and hung 
himself. 

After Christ had ascended into heaven, the Apostles 
held an election and chose Matthias to fill the vacancy 
of the traitor Judas. 

Still later, and some time after the outpouring of the 
Holy Ghost, Saul the persecutor of Christians was called 
directly by Christ from heaven to the Apostleship (Acts 
ix. 5), and his name changed to Paul, after he had fully 
entered upon his Gentile mission. Paul was the most 
learned of all the Apostles, a scholar of the renowned 
Gamaliel, as well as the most active and powerful 
worker among them. He labored and wrote more than 
all the other Apostles put together (1 Cor. xv. 10). The 
missionary field was according to their peculiar qualifi- 
cations so divided among them, that the Galilean Apos- 
tles labored in Palestine and the East, and Paul, the 
more learned, principally among the more intelligent 
Gentiles of the West. In their field of labor the former 



I N T R O D U C T I () N . IX 

were abundantly able to cope with oriental mysticism ; 
but with the more polished and learned philosophers of 
Athens, Corinth and Rome, Paul alone was able to con- 
tend successfully. 

If we regard the election of Matthias as of divine 
authority, we have thirteen Apostles ; if we reject that 
election, we have only twelve; the Apostles then must 
have made a mistake in not waiting quietly, as they 
should have done, and were requested to do by the 
Saviour, until after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, 
which gave them more light in divine things. Those 
who regard Matthias as an Apostle, must either reject 
Paul and regard him as a deceiver, which would be 
detrimental to Christianity, in a great measure built 
upon PauFs writings ; or they will have thirteen Apos- 
tles, which does not harmonize with the language of 
Christ. We rather think that the Apostles were in er- 
ror, for Christ promised to the twelve Apostles that they 
should judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. xix. 28, 
Luke xxii. 30). We read also of the new Jerusalem, 
which has twelve foundations, bearing the names of the 
twelve Apostles (Rev. xxi. 14). Besides, we never read 
of Matthias after his election. Paul is sometimes called 
the Apostle of the Gentiles, but he labored also among 
the Jews. The other Apostles, though mainly employed 
amongst the Jews, also labored among the Gentiles. 

Moreover, an Apostle cannot be called by men, but 



X I N T li O D U C T I O X . 

he must be called directly and |)ersonally by Christ. 
Paul was so called (Acts ix. 5, 1 Cor. xv. 8). We con- 
clude, therefore, that those who were called emphatically 
the Apostles and received their commission from Christ 
himself, were the eleven who had been chosen by Him 
while on earth, with St. Paul, w^hom He afterwards 
called directly from heaven. 

Matthias was chosen by lot, and not directly and per- 
sonally called by Christ. There is also something extra- 
ordinary in Paul's call, which we cannot fully compre- 
hend. He saw the Lord, and was called by Him to be 
an Apostle, as one ^4)()rp out of due time" (1 Cor. 
XV. 8). Paul is, no doubt, the true substitute of Judas, 
the betrayer. In Paul we have tlie ty|)e of Protestant- 
ism, which w^as also an ecclesiastical irregularity ; it, 
too, was, as it were, like Paul, ^^born as one out of due 
time,'^ and yet it has been accomplishiug w^onders dur- 
ing the last three hundred years. PauTs peculiar doc- 
trine of grace was only understood and brought out by 
the Reformation and since. 

These Apostles all followed the Lord while He was 
upon earth, except Paul, and heard His preaching, saw 
His miracles, and received His instructions. They also 
saw the empty grave, and were eye-witnesses of His 
crucifixion and death, and had seen the Saviour again 
and conversed with Him after His resurrection. What 
Paul lacked in this respect from the other Apostles, the 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

Saviour no doubt supplied to him while he was three 
years in the wilderness of Arabia. These Apostles were 
Christ's true representatives on earthy for the propaga- 
tion of His Gospel and the upbuilding of His kingdom. 
They were all faithful laborers, and all, except John, 
sealed their faith in the Saviour by suffering martyr- 
dom. The last one, namely John, died about the year 
A. D. 100. 

The Saviour then, as now, passed like a heavenly 
Dove over the mansions of the great and wealthy, and 
selected the sons of toil, with honest habits formed in 
their youth, from among the pure society of country- 
plains and valleys to become the organizers of that 
kingdom which He came to establish. A compliment 
paid to the poor and lowly by divine appointment. 
From my childhood on, I ever loved and respected the 
minister of God, especially the Apostles, whom I had 
learned to reverence with all my soul, and never thought 
to ask myself why ; perhaps it was implanted in my 
youthful heart by my good mother. 

It is my purpose now to write a short practical 
'account of all J:hese Apostles, and give the principal 
facts of their history, with some remarks on their writ- 
ings, and the manner of their death. We feel doubly 
assured that such a volume will be highly appreciated 
by the Christian public. For reasons made necessary 
by our plan, we have not followed the order in which 



Xli I X T R () I> U VT I i> N . 

the Apostles are named in the New Testament. In 
the preparation of this work, we have been greatly 
aided by Conybeare & Howson^s Life ot Paul, and 
Bacon's lives of the Apostles. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE APOSTLE PETER. 



Peter, tlie great Apostle of Jesus Christy was the son 
of Jonah^ and was born in Galilee^ at Bethsaida^ a town 
situated on the western shore of the sea of Gennesareth. 
He was no doubt from the lower order of society, as the 
time of his birth is not known in history. But it is 
supposed by some that he was about forty years of 
age when called^ by others that he was of about the 
same age with Jesus Christ. This^ however^ rests upon 
the fact that he was already married when called to be a 
disciple. His original name was Simon or Simeon^ 
which means a hearer ; he had also a brother of the 
name of Andrew^ who was a disciple of John the Bap- 
tist. This brother brought him to Jesus. The multi- 
tude ^Svho waited for the consolation of Israel/^ were 
strongly excited about John^ and '^all men mused in 
their hearts whether he were the Christ or not.^^ In 
the midst of this excitement^ John vindicated his hon- 
esty and sincerity by distinctly declaring that he was 
not the Christ, but only a voice in the wilderness pre- 
paring the way for the king of Israel, announcing that 



14 THE I.IVES OF 

the true Messiah stood at that time in their midst, 
though unknown in His real character. This fact being 
mentioned by John, very naturally excited the curiosity 
of all, and when Andrew had found Christ, he came and 
told his brother Peter and brought him to the Messiah. 
And when Jesus beheld him, he said, ^^Thou art Simon 
the son of Jonah : thou shalt be called Cephas : which 
is^ by interpretation, a stone/' (John i. 42 — 43.) The 
Syriac word for stone or rock is Cephas, the Latin 
Petra, w^ience the name of Peter. 

§ 1. PETER WAS MARRIED. 

Peter, like most of the Apostles, was married. He had 
his house, his wife and mother-in-law at Capernaum, on 
the lake of Gennesareth (Matt. viii. 14). Though Peter 
was married and had a wife with him, yet was he called 
to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. " Learn hence,'^ says 
Theophylact, ^^that marriage is no hindrance to virtue, 
since the chief of the Apostles had a wife." Marriage 
is truly a divine institution, and God positively declared 
that celibacy is not good. (Gen. ii. 8.) 

The Roman Catholic Church, a\ hich pretends to build 
everything upon Peter, does not follow him very closely, 
in forbidding her ministers to marry; this is certainly 
contrary, if not to his doctrine, at least to his example. 
It is also very remarkable that he who is said to have 
been the first bishop of Rome, was a married man. His 



THE APOSTLES. 15 

wife also accompanied him in his missionary tonrs. 
(1 Cor. ix. 5.) Her name is said to have been Perpetua 
or Concordia. It is also related that Peter accompanied 
her on her way to martyrdom in Rome. Their daugh- 
ter's name, the same legend says, was called Petronella. 

Though Peter was born at Bethsaida, it seems that 
he lived at Capernaum. It is probable that he changed 
his residence to the latter city in order to be nearer to 
Christ, who had made it his principal residence. It is 
also highly necessary for us to change our residence from 
the Avorld of sin to the kingdom of grace, in order to be 
nearer to Christ. Peter had his wife's mother with him, 
thereby teaching us true filial respect and care for our 
parents. This aged lady Christ healed of a fever. In 
Peter's house was the Church, the spiritual hospital, 
and the divine physician with power to heal. But the 
news of this cure soon spread over the city and brought 
Christ many patients. They doubtless reasoned, " He 
cured such a one, w^hy not me ; such a one's friend, why 
not my friend ?" 

After the two brothers, Peter and Andrew, had 
passed a day with the Lord, they took their leave -of 
him, and returned to their occupation of fishing, think- 
ing, perhaps, that the Saviour had no further use for 
them. This must have been in the thirtieth year of the 
Christian era. During the end of the same year, as 
Jesus was standing on the shore of the lake Gennesareth, 



16 THE livp:8 op^ 

he saw Peter and Andrew his brother, and several 
others, engaged in their employment of fishing. The 
miracle the Saviour wrought here, was no doubt de- 
signed to show them what success they should have in 
catching and saving souls with the net of the Gospel. 
Jesus now calls them, saying, ^' Follow me, and I will 
make you fishers of men/' They straightway left their 
boats and nets, and became from that time forward the 
constant followers and associates of the Saviour during 
His ministry on earth. (Luke xviii. 28). From this 
time forward, we see Peter on almost every occasion 
manifest his faith in Jesus as the true Messiah, and 
showing also the most extraordinary zeal in His service, 
to which we have many references in the Gospel. 

§ 2. THE CHARACTER OF PETER. 

Peter from the time he left his boat and fishing net, 
was not only a follower of our Lord, but the most for- 
ward and promiment among the Apostles. He is the 
organ, as it were, of the whole Apostolic college. He 
speaks and acts in their name. In his forwardness, he 
even undertakes to dissuade the Saviour from going the 
road of suffering and death, so necessary for the re- 
demption of the world. Upon the mountain of trans- 
figuration he is again hasty to build three tabernacles, 
one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elias, entirely 
forgetting himself, for he felt that it was " good to be 



THE APOSTLES. 17 

here/' having only a foretaste of heavenly glory. When 
the Saviour was washing the feet of the disciples^ he 
objects and presumes to know better. What a glowing 
love he manifests for the Saviour^ yet what dignity and 
self-confidence he also assumes. And when the Saviour 
told his disciples, saying, ^^all ye shall be offended be- 
cause of me this night/' Peter, full of self-reliance, de- 
clares that if all would forsake him, he would remain 
firm, and was not only ready to go with him into prison, 
but even unto death. What zeal he manifests in 
the garden of Gethsemane when he drew the sword, 
cutting off the ear of Malchus, instead of humbly sub- 
mitting and suffering with his Lord. At the trial of 
the Saviour, this self-same Peter, when accused of also 
being a follower of Jesus, curses and swears that he 
knew Him not. Here comes his deep and sorrowful 
fall, which caused him bitter tears of repentance, by 
which he was deeply humbled, and at the same time 
taught not to put confidence in his own weak human 
nature, but alone in his suffering Saviour. Christ had 
prayed for him, that his faith might not fail, and after 
His resurrection, restored him again to his Apostleship. 
True, a solemn and earnest test preceded his restora- 
tion, by the thrice-repeated question of ^^ Simon Bar- 
Jonah, lovest thou me? lovest thou me more than 
these?'' His pride now is humbled, he says no more 
that he loves Him more than these, but refers the 
2 



18 THE LIVES OF 

matter to the Lord, as the all-knowing One, who knew 
that he loved Him, yet painfully conscious that he does 
not love Him as he should. Though several times 
afterwards, he showed signs of weakness and incon- 
sistency, and thereby came in conflict with Paul, to his 
own humiliation, yet his whole life was a true and faith- 
ful exhibition of his love to the Saviour. He suffered 
much, but went fearlessly forward, till at last his love 
to his Divine Master was rewarded with a martyr's 
crown. 

Peter was a man of the moment, ever ready to move 
in his Master's cause, of hasty action, not faultless, but 
of noble character. He truly loved the Saviour, and 
was and is still held in high veneration, as Apostle and 
Saint, by the Church. In a word, Peter was born a 
Church bishop. Each of the Apostles had his proper 
gift, which corresponded to his natural peculiarity. 
These Charisms, or gifts of the Holy Ghost, they had 
not all in equal measure. John seems to have possessed 
especially the gift of love, profound knowledge and 
prophecy. Peter, that of Church government and dis- 
cipline, miracles, and discernment of spirits. James, 
the qualities of the faithful episcopal superintendence of 
a congregation, and silent, patient service at the altar.* 

Knowing how to obey, Peter also knew how to 
rule, and how to move in the upbuilding of Christ's 

^Pf. Schaff's Uistory of the ApostoUp Church, p. 470. 



THE APOSTLES. 19 

kingdom, performing well the work assigned him, 
namely, ^4aying the foundation of the Apostolic Church.^^ 
He was a most eminent Apostle of Jesus Christ, whose 
character shines brightly ; not a person of extraordinary 
pride and ambition, as represented by some, but a per- 
son of excellent endowments, both natural and gracious ; 
of great parts, and ready elocution. He was quick to 
apprehend, and bold to execute whatever he felt to be 

his duty. 

§ 3. HIS PRIMACY. 

That Peter possessed a certain primacy or priority 
over the Apostles, can sooner be disputed than dis- 
proven from a true scriptural stand-point. However 
much men may scruple, wrangle, and reason to the con- 
trary, yet his priority seems to be fully and clearly illus- 
trated, by the language of our Saviour, as well as by 
Peter's actions and life. This primacy manifested itself 
after, as well as before the Resurrection, and especially 
on they day of Pentecost. The Lord often made use of 
the great Jewish festivals to bring out their full mean- 
ing and significance. These festivals looked forward to 
to those great Christian facts which were then trans- 
piring. So the resurrection of Christ took place on a 
Jewish passover. The passover had reference to the de- 
liverance from Egyptian bondage, which was typical of 
our true deliverance by Jesus Christ from the bondage 
of sin, Oxi days like these, the Jews from all parts of 



20 THE LIVES OF 

the world were assembled in Jerusalem, and the news 
of these occurrences were more rapidly spread and their 
full meaning realized. 

Peter, by his life and character, possessed the re- 
quisite qualifications corresponding Avith the name the 
Lord had previously given him. Whatever others may 
have thought, he was the first to acknowledge with his 
whole soul and the energy of a living faith that Jesus 
Christ was the Messiah. In a critical hour, when many 
of his disciples went back, the Saviour addressed the 
Twelve, saying, '' Will ye also go away f^ Then Si- 
mon Peter answered for the Apostles, and said, ^^Lord, 
to whom shall we go ? Thou has the words of eternal 
life. And we believe, and are sure that thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God'^ (John vi. 69). 
Again, when the Lord asked the question, ^^ Whom do 
men say that I am?'^ and they said, ^^Some say that 
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremiah 
or one of the prophets.^' Christ says, " But whom say 
ye that I am ?" Simon Peter answered and said, ^^Thou 
art Christ, the Son of the living God.^^ Whereupon 
Christ called him blessed, because flesh and blood had 
not revealed this unto him, and said, '' I say unto thee, 
that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock will I build 
my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the 
kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on 



THE APOSTLES. 21 

earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven^^ (Matt. 
xvi. 16—19). 

No doubt this promise of the Lord had reference to 
Peter's faith, as well as to his person ; to the rock-man, 
as the renewed Peter in Christ, for ^^the Church of 
Christ is built not upon abstract confessions, but upon 
living persons, as the bearers of the truth.'' After the 
resurrection, the angel at the grave speaks to the woman, 
saying, " Go tell His disciples and Peter, that Jesus is 
risen as He had told them in Galilee." 

Though Peter denied the Saviour, yet had Jesus 
prayed that his faith should not fail, and requested that 
after he was converted he should strengthen the breth- 
ren (Luke xxii. 32). 

If the twelve Apostles are the founders of the Church, 
Jesus Christ being the chief Corner Stone, it is espe- 
cially true of Peter, the representative head and leader. 
For, before the resurrection, Peter stands at the head of 
the Apostolic college, he is it also very plainly after- 
wards, until the appearance of Paul. The Acts of the 
Apostles are clear on this head. He is also chief actor 
in the election of Matthias, who was to fill the place 
made vacant by Judas (Acts 1st ch.). On the day of 
Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian Church, he is 
again the leading actor. And when the house of Israel 
is charged with crucifying Jesus, who had risen from 



22 THE LIVES OF 

the dead, and was now both Lord and Christ, the peo- 
ple '' were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter, 
and to the rest of the Apostles, men and brethren, what 
shall we do ?" Peter is again the speaker, and replies, 
that spiritual regeneration is the door by which salva- 
tion is obtained. For he said, " Repent, and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
remission of sins, and ye sliall receive the gift of the 
Holy Ghost/^ For the promise of this regenerative gift 
is unto you and unto your children, and to all who may 
be called to the knowledge of God. (Acts ii. 37 — 39.) 
In the healing of the lame man, who was daily carried 
to the beautiful gate of the temple to ask alms, Peter 
acts the physician. (Acts iii. 6.) In the infliction of 
the divine punishment on Ananias and his wife, Saphira, 
he pronounces the death penalty. (Acts v. 1 — 10.) It 
is Peter who called the beloved Dorcas to life again. 
(Acts ix. 39 — 43.) It was he, more than any other, 
who extended the Church in Judea, and laid the foun- 
dation for the Gentile mission, by baptizing the uncir- 
cumcised Cornelius. (Acts xx.) 

The most reasonable supposition is, that there was 
an intentional preference given to Simon Cephas, on the 
score of eminence for genius, zeal, knowledge, prudence, 
or faith, which fitted him for taking the lead of the chief 
ministers of the Messiah He is also named jirsty in 
the list of Matthew, which is hardly unmeaningly ap- 



THE APOSTLES. 23 

plied. That Simon Peter was the first or chief of the 
Apostles, appears from the uniform precedence with 
which his name is honored on all occasions in the 
Scriptures, where the order in which names are men- 
tioned, could be made to depend on rank. We have 
also the universal testimony of the Fathers, that Peter 
was the chief. Besides, this Avas the general impression 
entertained throughout the Christian world, in all ages 
since his time.* 

In short, down to the Apostolic Council or Synod, 
held at Jerusalem, A. D. 50, Peter is the most impor- 
tant personage in the Church. He maintains the su- 
periority so clearly assigned him by the prophecy of 
Christ, and confirmed by history, that nothing but blind 
bigotry can deny it. After the Council of Jerusalem, 
he was with Paul at Antioch ; after which no mention 
is made of Peter, either in the Acts or Epistles of the 
other Apostles. 

Peter was one of the three who witnessed the resur- 
rection of Jairus^ daughter, and also one of the three on 
the mount of transfiguration; and one of the three 
with whom the Saviour retired to pray in the garden of 
Gethsemane. 

Moreover, the Lord did not give him this suprenaacy 
to exercise a spiritual Lordship or tyranny over his 
brethren in office, neither does history mention any 
^Bacon's Lives ol: the Apostles, pp. 46, 47. 



24 THE LIVES OF 

trace of such in his life. (1 Pet. v. 3.) Though he 
was positive and firm in the upbuilding of the Saviour^s 
kingdom, he never stooped so low as to persecute with 
fire and sword, those who somewhat differed from him, 
either in doctrine or practice; neither did Christ ever 
communicate such power to any one man, or set of men. 
Punishment was always, if any was deserved, referred to 
the Lord, even by the angels themselves, who are cer- 
tainly holier and purer than any self-styled infallible man, 
whose spirit of persecution always had more and savored 
more of the infernal regions, than of the Saviour and of 
heaven. The peculiar position assigned to Peter had, 
no doubt, special reference to the laying of the founda- 
tion of the Apostolic Church, by the continuation of 
which the life of Christ is made to flow over into all her 
members, to the end of the world. 

What an immense difference ^^ between the Galilean 
fisherman, who, as a common presbyter (1 Pet. v. 1), 
not as a Lord over the flock, but as its example (verse 
3), travels from place to place, in poor raiment, accom- 
panied by his wife (1 Cor. ix. 5), to proclaim the simple 
word of the cross to the Jews and Gentiles ; and a 
Gregory VIL, with his unyielding hierarchic pride, and 
his inexorable anathemas directed against all married 
priests as whoremongers and adulterers ; or an Innocent 
III., who, arrayed in gorgeous pontificial attire, and 
bearing the triple crown upon his head, reverently en- 



THE APOSTLES. 26 

compassed with different patriarchs, seventy-one metro- 
politans and superior prelates, four hundred and twelve 
bishops, nine hundred abbots and priors, the lights of 
learning, and the ambassadors of almost all the princes 
of Europe, at the fourth Lataran Council, as the holy 
and infallible father of the whole family of Christian 
nations,'' as the vicegerent of Christ upon earth.* 

§ 4. THE EPISTLES OF PETER. 

We have two Epistles from this Apostle, bearing the 
name of First and Second Epistles of Peter. Soon after 
the Council of Jerusalem, we find him at Antioch with 
Paul and Barnabas. It is highly probable that Peter 
was nowhere permanently settled, but as an Apostle 
continued to make missionary journeys. 

The first Epistle he wrote from Babylon ; it is not 
absolutely certain which he meant, whether the ancient 
city, then destroyed, or heathen Rome; likely the latter 
city, which was at that time, a true Babylon in wick- 
edness. In this Epistle he explains more fully the 
doctrines of Christianity to the newly-converted Jews, 
trying to persuade them to a holy conversation, and a 
faithful discharge of all Christian duties, whereby they 
would secure their own peace, and disprove all the 
slanders of their enemies; and, finally, encourages them 
to patience and perseverance in the faith, lest the perse- 
*Dr. Schaff's Historical Development, pp. 42, 43. 



26 THE LIVES OF 

cution coming, would cause them to apostatize from 
Christ and His Gospel. This Epistle is peculiarly re- 
markable for the sweetness, gentleness, and humble love, 
with which it is written. It was written about A. D. 65. 
In the second Epistle, which he is supposed to have 
written about the year A. D. 67, he exhorts them to 
grow in grace and holiness, to the producing of good 
works, and to be constant in the faith of Christ. He 
warns them of the coming of false teachers, whom many 
would follow to their own speedy destruction. He also 
reminds them of the general judgment from which the 
wicked cannot escape, and lastly, exhorts them to all 
holiness of life, so as to be ready for the second coming 

of Christ. 

§ 5. PETER AT ROME. 

It is the universal tradition that Peter labored last 
in Rome, and there, also, suffered martyrdom with Paul 
under Nero. The place where he wrote his first Epis- 
tle is Babylon, from whence he salutes the brethren. 
We have, also, the unanimous testimony of the ancient 
Church that he was, for some time, in Rome. This is 
the only place named where he is said to have suffered, 
and no other Church ever laid claim to this honor. It 
is also the unanimous testimony of the Church fathers 
that Peter preached and suffered in Rome. The length 
of time he labored there is not fully established. Tra- 
dition says that he was there twenty-five years, which 



THE APOSTLES. 27 

is, however^ very improbable. But that he was there, 
and died there, is the united testimony of all Christian 
writers of ancient times. 

The time he came to Rome is not fully determined, 
either by history or tradition, but he can hardly have 
been there more than a few years. It is not to our credit 
to deny the truth of events, ascertained by early and 
well attested tradition, whatever use is made of such 
facts. He is supposed to have preached to the Jews in 
Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia, and 
finally came to Rome, where he suffered martyrdom, at 
the advanced age of about 70 years, having been a dis- 
ciple about 37 years. He is said to have been crucified, 
with the head downwards, under Nero. This bloody 
tyrant was himself accused of burning the city of Rome, 
but in order to screen himself from the crime he charged 
upon the Christians the deed, and ordered that bloody 
persecution, with the most savage and unsparing cru- 
elty. Tacitus, the Roman historian, says that Rome 
was burned in the year A. D. 64. And tradition says 
that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom together at 
Rome, at about the same time. But the most reliable 
investigation fixes the date of St. PauPs martyrdom at 
Rome in the Spring of A. D. 68. And if the two 
Apostles suffered martyrdom together, and at the same 
time, then Peter must have died in the year A. D. 68, 
and thus after the destruction of the city. There is also 



28 THE LIVES OF 

a tradition that Peter made his escape from prison, try- 
ing to save his life by flight, but meeting the Lord bear- 
ing His cross, he asked, ^^Lord, whither art thou go- 
ing?'^ The Lord replied: "I am going to Rome, to 
be crucified again /^ Peter hastily returned and met his 
death with joy. This tradition still lives in the mouth 
of the people of Pome. 



THE APOSTLES. 29 



CHAPTER II. 



THE APOSTLE ANDREW. 



The Apostle Andrew was also a native of Bethsaida, 
a son of Bar-Jona, and a brother of the Apostle Peter. 
The hist' >ry of this Apostle is very meagre; how he 
lived and where he labored, and what he accomplished^ 
is not recorded in history. He, like Peter^ was ])oor, 
and^ as it appears^ made his living by fishing. He was 
a faithful laborer, and the Lord did not despise him on 
account of his poverty, and we must not despise the poor 
either. 

Before his call to the Apostleship, he was a disciple 
and follower of John the Baptist. But after hearing 
John's declaration in reference to the Saviour, whom he 
had pointed out as the ^^ Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world,'^ he immediately came to Je- 
sus. He also introduced his brother Simon Peter to the 
Saviour, who called him Cephas, which means a rock 
(John i. 42). This appears to have taken place about 
the year A. D. 30. He and Peter accompanied him to 
the marriage feast in Cana, where the Lord turned water 
into wine, but afterwards again returned to his ordinary 



30 THE LIVES OF 

occupation of fishing, perhaps not expecting to be fur- 
ther employed in the service of Christ. 

Sometime after this, probably the same year, as he 
and some others of the disciples were fishing, the Sav- 
iour met them and by His miraculous help they in- 
closed a large quantity of fishes, filling both vessels 
(Luke V. 7). The Saviour now calls them, saying, 
^^ Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And 
they straightway left their nets and followed Him/^ 

HIS WORK AND LABORS. 

History is comparatively quiet in regard to his field 
of labor. We have not much that is of a positive cer- 
tainty. Some of the ancients are of the opinion that he 
preached the Gospel in Scythia; and, according to other 
accounts, in Asia Minor, Thrace and Achaia. The 
modern Greeks make him the founder of the Church of 
Byzantium or Constantinople. But of this we find 
nothing in the early history of the Church. 

After working many miracles, he is supposed to have 
suffered martyrdom at Petrae in Achaia, by the order of 
the Roman Proconsul, Aegeas, whose wife and brother 
he had converted, and afterwards to have been crucified 
on a crux decussata, which then came to be called ^^ An- 
drew's Cross/' 



THE APOSTLES. 31 



CHAPTKR III. 



THE APOSTLE JAMES. 



The Apostle James was siirnamed the Greater^ or 
Elder, to distinguish him from the other Apostle who 
was called James the Less, or Younger. James the 
Elder was a brother of John the Evangelist. He was 
a son of Zebedee and Salome ; his mother was a sister to 
Mary, the mother of the Lord. 

He was also of Bethsaida, and was a fisherman, who, 
when called by the Lord, left all to follow Him, and 
became, like Peter, a fisher of men (Mark i. 19, 20). 
James was early favored with the most intimate com- 
panionship of Jesus. When certain Samaritans, to 
whose country Jesus with His disciples had come, re- 
fused to receive Him, James and John desired leave of 
the Lord to pray that fire should fall from heaven and 
consume them (Luke ix. 54). 

James and John were also called the sons of thun- 
der. This may probably imply a degree of decided 
boldness and fiery energy, with which they should, like 
an earthquake or thunder, mightily bear down all oppo- 
sition to the Saviour's kingdom by their preaching and 
miraculous power* 



32 THE LIVES OF 

James was one of the select three who were present 
on the mount of transfiguration, and also at the Saviour's 
agony in the garden of Gethsemane. After the resur- 
rection of our Saviour, when James and John were 
again fishing in the sea of Tiberias, he once more saw 
the Lord. He was also present at His ascension. That 
James was a particular personage in the Apostolic col- 
lege, is also seen from Acts xii. 17. 

HIS AMBITIOUS CLAIM. 

Salome, the mother of James and John, also followed 
the Saviour with her two sons. This would seem to 
indicate that Zebedee had died soon after the time when 
the call of his sons took place. For Salome could hardly 
leave her husband and family, and go with Jesus on His 
journeys, ministering to His necessities, if her husband 
had not been dead. 

Salome seems to have had more aspiring ambition 
than their father, for it is she Avho demands of the 
Saviour that He should grant that her two sons might 
sit, the one on His right hand, and the other on His left, 
when He reigned in His glory. Upon which Jesus 
asked them whether they were able to drink the cup 
that He should drink of, and be baptized with the bap- 
tism that He should be baptized with ? To which they 
answered, " We are able^' (Matt. xx. 20—23). This 
seems to have aroused among the ten a feeling of indig- 



THE APOSTLES. 33 

nation against the two, for their idea of Christ's kingdom 
was only human. The Saviour told them : The king- 
doms of the world are governed by princes and 'lords, 
and that only the great ones exercise authority over 
them. But it shall not be so among you ; for he w^ho 
will be great among you, must be your servant. He 
w^ho will be your chief, shall be the slave of the rest. 
" For even the Son of Man came not to make others 
His slaves, but to be a slave to many.'' 

In vain had Christ pointed out to His disciples hu- 
mility, meekness and industry as indispensable qualities 
which must pervade His followers. They still disputed 
on their way to Galilee among themselves on this ques- 
tion as to which of them should be the greatest, or prime 
minister, in their Master's kingdom. But the Saviour 
meeting them afterwards at Capernaum, brought up this 
defection. ^^ Setting a little child before them (probably 
one of Peter's children, as it was in his house), and tak- 
ing the little innocent into His arms. He assured them 
that unless they should become utterly changed in dis- 
position and in hope, and become like that little child 
in simplicity of character, they should have no share 
whatever in the glories of that kingdom which was to 
them an object of so many ambitious aspirations." 



34 THE LIVES OF 

§ 2. HIS LABORS. 

In reference to his labors we have little that is relia- 
ble. True, report says, that he preached to all the dis- 
persed tribes of Israel, but for this we have no certainty. 
It is supposed that he was chiefly engaged with the gov- 
ernment of the Church at Jerusalem, which is also quite 
likely, because he, with Peter and John, was previously 
distinguished by the Lord, and their Avork was of a 
more particular character, while that of the other Apos- 
tles was more about the general affairs of the Church. 
James, the Elder, is not the one who presided at the 
first Council or Synod at Jerusalem, A. D. 50, neither 
the one who wrote the Epistle ; because he had been al- 
ready dead some six years before that Council was held, 
and seventeen years before the Epistle was written. 

§ 3. HIS MAETYRDOM. 

He suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem (Acts xii. 1, 2) 
about A. D. 44. He was beheaded under Herod 
Agrippa, who was at that time king of the Jews, and a 
grand-son of Herod the Great, who caused him to be 
seized and executed at Jerusalem (Acts xii. 2). It is 
reported that when his accuser, who had brought him 
before the Judges, saw the constancy of James in con- 
fessing Jesus Christ and his readiness to suffer martyr- 
dom, he was so much affected that he repented and de- 
clared himself also a Christian, and was condemned, as 



THE APOSTLES. 35 

well as the Apostle^ to be beheaded. ^^He was/' it is 
said, "then led away with James, asked his pardon, 
which James imparted with a fraternal kiss and the 
words, ^ Peace be with thee.' '^ It was, no doubt, his 
prominent position in the Church which made James 
the first victim of persecution. It is also very remarka- 
ble that upon the oldest son of Zebedee the storm of 
persecution opened, and that he had to be the first on 
the list of Apostolic martyrs, whilst John, the younger 
son, closed the Apostolic age quietly and peacefully. 



36 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTKR IV. 



THE APOSTLE PHILIP. 



This Apostle was, like Peter and Andrew, a native 
of Galilee and of the City of Bethsaida, which signifies 
the house of nets. Philip doubtless had heard the Sav- 
iour, and of the zeal and faith with which Peter and 
Andrew followed him, so that when Jesus saw him and 
said unto him, "Follow me,^^ he was at once ready to 
obey (John i. 43). The Saviour has various ways of 
bringing His chosen ones to Himself. Some, like Peter 
and Andrew, are brought to Him by others, and some, 
like Philip, He goeth forth to call Himself. The day 
following Peter and Andrew's call. He findeth Philip, 
whom He calleth by His own word. So the Saviour 
calleth many before they make any inquiries after Him. 
When He was on earth. He called but few a day, but 
since the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, He calls them 
by thousands. 



THE APOSTLES. 37 

HIS ACTIVITY AND LABORS. 

Philip^ after his call, was so devoutly engaged in 
the cause of the Saviour, that he soon sought out others, 
whom he also brought to the Lord, that they, too, might 
be sharers with himself in the blessings of the Messiah^s 
kingdom, to w^hich he had been called. He soon after 
met Nathaniel, and at once told him, '' We have found 
Him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did 
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph^^ (John i. 45). 

Shortly before the Lord's death, some Gentiles de- 
siring to see the Saviour, addressed themselves to Philip, 
who mentioned it to Andrew, and these two to Christ. 
At the last Supper, Philip desired the Saviour to show 
them the Father (John xiv. 8 — 10). It is not positively 
certain where or when he died. The New Testament 
gives not a word in reference to his work as an Apostle, 
further than that he belonged to the twelve, and was 
with them assembled in an upper chamber after Christ's 
ascension. 

That he was actively engaged in preaching the Gos- 
pel, may be inferred from the zeal which he manifested 
already immediately after his call to the Apostleship. 
He, probably, survived the destruction of Jerusalem. 
According to ancient tradition, he was married and had 
several pious daughters. He is supposed to have 
preached in Asia Minor, in the province of Phrygia, 



38 THE LIVES OF 

and died^ some say a natural death, others a violent one 
at Hierapolis, at a good old age. 

But he may at last rise from Babylon or the shades 
of Persia, while his name-sake, the Evangelist, shall 
burst from his tomb in Hierapolis. For, as Polycrates 
truly says, " In Asia some great lights have gone down, 
that shall rise again on that day of the Lord^s ap- 
proach, when he shall come from the heavens in glory, 
and shall raise up all His saints/^ John, the beloved 
disciple, sleeps at Ephesus ; Polycarp, at Smyrna ; 
Thraseas, at Eumenia ; Sagaris, at Laodicea ; Papirus 
and Melito, at Sardis — all awaiting the coming of the 
Lord from heaven, when He shall raise them from the 
dead. 



THE APOSTLES. 39 



CHAPTER V. 



NATHANIEL BAR-THOLOMEW. 



§ 1. HIS BIRTH AND NAME. 

At the very outstart in the history of this Apostle, 
we are met with a primary question in regard to the 
several names by which he is called in the sacred writ- 
ings^ as to whether^ perhaps, they do not refer to two 
entirely different persons ? This difficulty, however, 
will easily vanish after the matter is properly under- 
stood. This Apostle was the son of Ptolemaeus, the 
first syllable Bar being often prefixed to Syriac names, 
and means son, just as Bar- Jonah means the son of 
Jonah, because Bar-Tholomew is not an individual 
name, but a word showing parentage merely. The Bar 
thus means son — ^^the son of Tholomew, or Tholomai.^^ 
Hence the name Bartholomew. 

His given name was Nathaniel, which means "gift 
of God/' He is therefore supposed to be the same 
person who is frequently called Nathaniel. He was 
also one of the first called by Christ as a disciple. The 
Evangelist John never mentions Bartholomew, but 



40 THE LIVES OF 

always Nathaniel, while the other three Evangelists 
never mention Nathaniel, but always Bartholomew. In 
John i. 45, Philip and Nathaniel are mentioned as com- 
ing to the Lord together. The other Evangelists always 
associate Philip and Bartholomew. The correctness of 
this vicAV is also strengthened by the fact that Nathaniel 
is particularly mentioned among the Apostles to whom 
Christ appeared at the Sea of Tiberias, after his resur- 
rection. (John xxi. 2.) He was a native of Cana in 
Galilee, which is about half-way between Lake Tiberias 
and the Mediterranean Sea. He was probably also a 
fisherman by occupation. (John xxi. 2.) 

§ 2. HIS CALL. 

Philip, after his own call, immediately seeks to 
bring his friend Nathaniel to Jesus. On telling "him, 
'" We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and 
the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of 
Joseph,'^ he replied with contempt, ^^Can any good 
thing come out of Nazareth f^ To w^hich Philip re- 
plied, "Come and see,^^ (John i. 46.) Nathaniel, as 
well as Philip, was doubtless well acquainted with the 
Old Testament history, and he would not lightly assent 
to any representation of Christ. His caution is highly 
commendable, for to "prove all things'^ is Christian. 
Philip brought him to Jesus, wisely judging that no 
argument would remove his prejudice so well as the 



THE APOSTLES. 41 

aspect of Jesus himself. Nathaniel was near Betha- 
bara when found by Philip, and came with him to 
Jesus, partly perhaps to gratify his friend and partly 
to satisfy his own curiosity. When Jesus saw him, He 
said, '^ Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no 
guile,'^ manifesting at once, a confidential and intimate 
knowledge of his character, with a high tribute of praise. 
Nathaniel may at the time have been absorbed in fervent 
prayer about the coming of the long-promised Saviour, 
when Philip approached him under the fig tree. For 
the fig tree made a delightful shade, and was often 
sought in warm seasons, as a place of retirement for 
conversation, meditation and prayer. The idea of the 
matter seems to be this, ^^Thou art no deceiver, but an 
honest wrestler Avith God, that He would send the 
Saviour of the world and show Him to thee; thy 
prayer is heard. The Messiah stands before thee.^^ 
Philip was surprised that one whom he had never seen, 
should know^ him so well, and replied, ^^ Whence know- 
est thou me?'^ Jesus answered, and said unto him, 
"Before Philip called thee, when thou w^ast under the 
fig tree, I saw thee.^' Nathaniel, at once convinced, 
exclaims, " Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ; thou art 
the King of Israel.^^ (John i. 48—9.) 

Nathaniel was an Israelite indeed, one who had 
wrestled with God alone, and not like the hypocrites 
who stand on the corners of the streets in order to be 



42 THE LIVES OF 

seen by men. He first recognizes Christ as " Rabbi/' 
the great teacher at whose feet we must all be brought 
up. Secondly, he confesses His divinity in calling Him 
"Son of God.'' Thirdly, he owns Him as the "King 
of Israel/' whom they had long since waited for. 

Jesus recognizing with pleasure the ready faith of 
this pure-minded disciple, replied, "Because I said unto 
thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? 
Thou shalt see greater things than these." Then turn- 
ing to both Philip and Nathaniel, He says, " I solemnly 
assure you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son 
of man." (John i. 50—51.) 

From this time forward, he appears to have been a 
constant follower of the Lord. Two days after this 
occurrence, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, at 
which he with Jesus and the other disciples was present. 

§ 3. HIS LABORS AND DEATH. 

After this occurrence, no mention is made, whatever, 
of Nathaniel, under either name, except that the twelve 
were sent forth in pairs; and that he was sent with his 
friend Philip; and that he was fishing with the Apos- 
tles when Christ after his resurrection, appeared unto 
them. (John xxi. 2.) 

Early tradition, however, says that he propagated 
the faith in India, where, according to Eusebius, he left 



THE APOSTLES. 43 

the Gospel of Matthew in the Hebrew language ; and 
that he was also in the more northern and western parts 
of Asia and in Lycaonia and Armenia Major. 

Tn reference to his death^ we have different accounts. 
Some assert that he was martyred by being flayed alive, 
and beheaded in Armenia, at the city of Albanopolis. 
Others say that in extreme old age, he was martyred at 
Urbanopolis, in greater Armenia, by scourging and cru- 
cifixion. There is no doubt, but that he at last suffered 
martyrdom somewhere in Armenia. At what age of 
his life, or year of the world, is not known. 



44 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE APOSTLE MATTHEW. 



This Apostle^ also called Levi^ was the son of Al- 
pheus. He was a native of Galilee, but to what city or 
tribe he belonged, is not known, neither is it known 
where or when he was born. Matthew and Levi are 
names of one and the same person, whom our Lord 
called from the receipt of custom. Levi was, no doubt, 
his old name, which may have had some reference to 
the Jewish legalism, while that of Matthew, the new, or 
assumed name, may refer to " one who is fully grown, a 
man, a hero,^' meaning ^' God's free man,'' in opposition 
to Levi, the servant of the law. 

This Apostle was a publican, tax-gatherer, or collec- 
tor of customs, at the Lake of Gennessareth, an office 
much despised and regarded as degrading by his coun- 
trymen, especially so by the Scribes * and Pharisees. 
This office he held under the Romans, who were at that 
time masters of Palestine; it consisted in collecting a 
certain tax on goods and persons passing over the Lake 
Gennessareth. Here he sat, day by day, collecting toll, 
penny by penny, from the unwilling people, whose 



THE APOSTLES. 45 

national pride was every moment wounded by the de- 
grading exactions of the Roaians. 

§ 1. HIS DIYIXE CALL. 

Here the Saviour called him^ and he immediately 
left his n]d occupation and followed Him (Matt. ix. 9). 
He now became a gatherer of tribute in the kingdom of 
the Prince of Peace. He, no doubt^ had been acquainted 
with the Saviour, and had frequently heard of Him be- 
fore. Soon after his call, he not only renounced his 
former vocation for the discipleship of Christ, but hailed 
his new calling with such satisfaction and delight, that 
he celebrated it with a great feast, to which he invited 
his old friends, as well as his new ones, that they might 
share with him his joy at his hospitable board. Even 
the Saviour and His disciples honored him as guests. 
This the proud Scribes and Pharisees could not endure, 
and questioned the Lord's propriety of eating with tax- 
gatherers and sinners (Luke v. 30). But to the cavils 
of the Scribes and Pharisees the Saviour replied : ^'They 
that are whole need not a physician, but they that are 
sick. But go ye and learn what this meaneth. I came 
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'^ 
Yet out of this hated class Jesus did not disdain to call 
at least one whom He chose for the express purpose of 
building up His kingdom of Salvation and Faith, 



46 THE LIVES OF 

§ 2. HIS LABORS AND DEATH. 

Of the labors of Matthew, we know very little for a 
certainty. After Christ's ascension, he continued with 
the other Apostles, to preach the gospel in Judea, but 
how long he remained here, is not known. It is not 
clearly stated, either by tradition or Church history, to 
what country he finally went and preached Christ. The 
earliest testimony on record, is that '^ when the Apostles 
divided the heathen world by lot among themselves, 
Matthew was assigned to Ethiopia.^' 

At what time or place, and in what manner he died, 
is not positively known. According to some, he died 
a natural death, but others say, he suffered martyrdom. 
The general opinion is, that he preached and suffered 
martyrdom in Persia or Parthia; some say, he was 
burned. The Greek calendar of the saints has the 16th 
day of November as the day of his martyrdom. Ano- 
ther story is that the fire which had been kindled for 
his destruction, was extinguished by his prayers, and 
that he at last died in peace. A later legend, however 
relates his martyrdom as having taken place in Ethio- 
pia, and says, "that one of the attendants of Hirtacus, 
king of Ethiopia, murdered him by piercing him 
through the back Avhile at prayer. The revenge of the 
king was prompted by the conversion of Aegyppus, his 
predecessor to the throne, who with his whole family 
had adopted Christianity in consequence of the preach- 
ing of Matthew/^ 



THE APOSTLES. 47 

§ 3. . HIS GOSPEL. 

The Gospel of Matthew was no doubt written in 
Palestine for the Jews and Jewish converts^ and in the 
Hebrew language. This is the testimony of the Fathers, 
dating to within seventy five years of the time of Mat- 
thew himself, who are very decided in maintaining that 
it was written in the Hebrew, and that he wrote it when 
he was about to depart from Palestine. This he did, in 
order that those whom he left behind, might have an 
authentic record of the life of Christ. The Greek 
manuscript which we have, is only a translation, or 
perhaps another copy, which Matthew afterwards made 
in the Greek language. 

Papias says that ^^ Matthew wrote the divine words 
in the Hebrew language, and every one translated them 
as best he could. '^ The value of his testimony may be 
best learned from his own simple and honest account. 
He says, " If any person who had ever been acquainted 
with the elders, came into my company, I inquired of them 
the words of the Elders, — what Andrew and Peter said ? 
— what Thomas and James, and John and Matthew, and 
the other disciples of the Lord, used to say?^^ Pantae- 
nus of Alexandria, who lived about A. D. 180, says 
that he found the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew among 
the Jews of Arabia Felix, towards the end of the second 
century. Jerome says, ^^ Matthew composed his Gospel 



48 THE LIVES OF 

in Hebrew letters and words, but it is not very 
well known who afterwards translated it. Moreover, 
the very Hebrew original itself is preserved even to 
this day, in the library at Caesarea, which the martyr 
Pamphilus most industriously collected. I had also the 
opportunity of copying this book by means of the 
Nazareans in Beroca, a city of Syria, who use this 
book.'^ He also says, that Matthew wrote his Gospel 
in the Hebrew language, principally for the sake of 
those Jews who believed in Jesus. 

§ 4. THE TIME OF WRITING. 

As regards the time when the Gospel of Matthew 
was written, we have conflicting opinions. Some main- 
tain that he wrote it nine years after the ascension; 
others, fifteen years after that event. But the more 
probable time in which this Gospel was written, is about 
A. D. 66 or 67. This we conclude, because he relates a 
fact which took place but a short time before the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. (Matt, xxiii. 35 — 39.) 

§ 5. THE OBJECT OF HIS GOSPEL. 

The object of Matthew in writing this Gospel, Avas 
not merely to give us a history of the birth and life of 
the Saviour, but more particularly to correct the wrong 
impressions which had taken possession of the Jews, 
that the long foretold Messiah would come iu the power 



THE APOSTLES. 49 

of God^ and lead them on to certain triumph over their 
enemies^ and establish his mighty kingdom upon the 
throne of David. This false notion dreAv the whole na- 
tion together in revolt^ and incited them to the contest, 
and sustained them under the most awful calamities. 
While these notions were prevalent, this Gospel was 
written. It constantly referred to the Old Testament, 
and showed that Christ, who had been here, and suf- 
fered death upon the cross, was actually the person of 
whom the Prophets of old spake — showing that he had 
already come, for whom they ignorantly looked and 
upon whom they based their groundless hopes as a com- 
ing deliverer. He also mentioned that the destruction 
of their city and temple would soon follow after the ces- 
sation of the daily sacrifice in the temple, clearly show- 
ing that the actions of Jesus, even in the most trifling 
incidents, correspond with ancient passages of Scripture, 
which foreshadowed the Messiah. In a word, his ob- 
ject was to correct the false hope of the Jews, and also 
to strengthen and preserve those who already professed 
Jesus, 



50 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE APOSTLte THOMAS. 



The Apostle Thomas is also called Didyinus, a twin. 
We have no information of his parentage^ rank in life^ 
or occupation^ before he was called to the Apostleship. 
He was, probably, from Galilee. He is represented to 
us by some as a man of a melancholy, skeptical and 
willful turn of mind, who would believe only after the 
most palpable and obvious testimony of the understand- 
ing and experience ; but, with great decision and fideli- 
ty, he would hold fast to what he had once come to be- 
lieve. This is rather too harsh a judgment upon one 
who was so ready to believe after he was truly con- 
vinced. 

§ 1. HIS LIFE 

The first incident that is mentioned of him, after his 
call to the Apostleship, is in connection with the death 
and resurrection of Lazarus. (John xi. 16.) When he 
found Christ determined to go where Lazarus was, and 
where He had previously been in danger of His life, he 
would not let Him go alone, but said to his fellow dis- 
ciples, " Let us also go, that we may die with Him,'^ 



THE APOSTLES. 51 

meaning, since our Master will expose Himself to such 
imminent danger, let us go wherever He may go, and 
die with Him. While the rest of the Apostles were 
full of fear^ he showed here a more exalted devotion to 
the Saviour than they. 

In the 14th Chapter of John, where Christ delivered 
His parting discourse to His disciples, He informed them 
that He was going to prepare a place for them in His 
Father's house, where there are many mansions, and 
assured them that He would speedily come and bring 
them to these mansions, that they might be where He 
was. After which the Saviour said, " Whither I go, 
ye know, and the way ye know.'' Then Thomas re- 
plied, " Lord, we know not whither Thou goest ; and 
and how can we know the way?" Jesus replied, "I 
am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh 
unto the Father, but by Me." 

The disciples were still dreaming of a worldly king- 
dom, and not one of them had any clear idea of that 
spiritual kingdom He came to establish; neither had 
they any idea of His resurrection ; nor would they be- 
lieve it, until they had seen Him with their own eyes. 
Thomas did not show such a Avonderful skepticism, 
when he would not believe that the Saviour had actually 
risen. He rather thought that they were deceived, and 
he Avould give no credit to the report, until he had seen 
Him himself, and felt the wounds in His hands and 
side. 



52 THE LIVES OF 

The disciples were assembled in the evening of the 
first day of the week, when Christ first appeared unto 
them, but Thomas was not present. What caused his 
absence, we are not told. It may have been business, 
company, or it may have been the fear of the Jews. 
Many Christians absent themselves from God's wor- 
ship, and often for very trifling excuses, but see and 
know not the losses they thus sustain. 

The other disciples tell Thomas with joy and ex- 
ultation, ^^We have seen the Lord.'' They doubtless 
wished that he had been with them. Christians ought 
to build up one another in the faith, both by what they 
have seen, heard and experienced. Those who by faith 
have seen the Lord, should act as missionaries, and 
reveal Him to others. 

§ 2. HIS DISBELIEF. 

When Thomas heard the report that the Lord had 
risen, he would not believe it, except he could see the 
nail-prints in his hands, and put his fingers in them, 
and could put his hand into His side. Christ was, after 
his resurrection, not always with his disciples as for- 
merly, no doubt thereby to show them that He now 
belonged to another world. Thomas had to wait eight 
days longer in his incredulity. This was, no doubt, a 
melancholy week for him, as he was in sorrow and 
doubt, while the other disciples were full of conviction 



THE APOSTLES. 53 

and joy. Because of Thomas^ disbelief, Christ would 
not appear to him separately, merely for his own satis- 
faction, bat left him in suspense, until He found him in 
the society of His disciples again. Besides, all the disci- 
ples should witness the rebuke which he deserved. Let 
us not suppose that Ave can be blessed by absenting our- 
selves from the assemblies of Christ^s people. 

After eight days the Saviour appears unto them, 
when they were all assembled, and saluted them as be- 
fore, with " Peace be unto you.^' Thus Christians, who 
assemble in the name of the Lord, are continually blest. 
Christ now addresses Thomas, requesting him to reach 
forth his finger and his hand, that he might examine 
the marks of His wounds. Thomas, ashamed of his in- 
credulity, exclaimed, " My Lord and my God.^^ He is 
now ready to acknowledge Him to be his Lord and his 
God. Thus in faith, the will and understanding must 
assent to the terms and truth of the Gospel. It is right 
to use our reason, but what it cannot understand, we 
shall accept by faith. Christ now tells him and all the 
world, that blessed are they that have not seen w^hat 
they saw, and yet believed. We have never seen Christ 
with our eyes, but if we believe in Him and follow 
Him, we shall be blessed. 



54 THE LIVES OF 

§ 3. HIS LABORS AND DEATH. 

Of the labors and death of St. Thomas, we know 
little. The first mention made of him, is by Origen, 
who referred to the testimony of a tradition which says, 
that when the Apostles separated to go into all the 
world, and preach the Gospel, Parthia was assigned to 
Thomas. It is also said, that he preached to the Medes, 
Persians, &c. Several of the Church Fathers inform 
us that he also preached in India. There is also a re- 
port that ^^ Thomas found in his travels, the three Magi, 
who adored the infant Jesus, and having baptized them, 
associated them with him in his Apostolic labors/^ The 
oldest tradition says that he died in the Parthian Empire, 
and was buried in Edessa; but later accounts say in East 
India. There is little doubt that he died a martyr, 
somewhere in the Parthian empire. In the 13th cen- 
tury Marco Polo found Christians at Socotra, an 
island in the Indian Ocean, who claimed that their 
Church was planted by the doubting disciple. Guides 
pointed out to the late Hon. William H. Seward the 
hill and the cave at Malapoo, where it is alleged that 
St. Thomas sought refuge and suffered martyrdom. 
They say that even the threshhold of the cave still bears 
the impress of his foot.* St. Francis Xavier, surnamed 
^Hhe Apostle of the Indies,'^ in relating his voyage to 

*Se ward's Travels around the World, p. 346. 



THE APOSTLES. 55 

India, states that his vessel entered the harbor of Soco- 
tra, and was detained there many weeks for provision 
and repairs. While there he found the inhabitants hos- 
pitable and docile Christians, using a ritual-service 
which they claimed to have been left them by the Apos- 
tle St. Thomas, to whom they attributed their conver- 
sion. At any rate, they had never heard of the Pope, 
nor even of the division of the Church between the 
Greek Patriarch, whom they acknowledged, and the Pope 
of Rome.* This mission St. Xavier began in Goa, 
India, A. D. 1542. 

•■•Seward's Travels around the World, p. 469. 



56 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTER Vlir. 



THE APOSTLE JAMES, 



We know nothing of the parentage or early history 
of this Apostle^ or of his ocoupation or place of residence^ 
further than that he was a son Cephas, otherwise called 
Alpheus, and Mary. Why he is called '^ James the 
Less/'* whether on account of age, size, or dignity, we 
are unable to say. It was, perhaps, partly to distinguish 
him from James, the elder Apostle, or, most probably, 
because he was small in stature. James the Less is 
sometimes called the brother of the Lord, yet he can be 
no nearer relation to Him than a step-cousin. James 
the Less and James the Just we believe to have been 
one and the same person, though this is denied by a 
nu mber of writers who occupy prominent positions in 
the Church, and are, therefore, also entitled to some re- 
spect. 

§ 1. HIS WORK. 

He was called to be an Apostle, and was also hon- 
ored by the Lord with a separate interview, eight days 
after His resurrection. (1 Cor. xv. 7.) He occupied a 

■*In the Greek original of Mark he is called *' James the Little." 



THE APOSTLES. 67 

very prominent position among the Apostles^ and was 
also held in high esteem among the Jewish Christians. 
After the elder James was beheaded^ he became Bishop 
of the Christian Church at Jerusalem. He is also be- 
lieved to have presided at the first Apostolic Council or 
Synod, held at Jerusalem A. D. 50. At this Synod he 
acted as President, and it seems that all, especially the 
Jewish Christians, looked to him that he should speak 
the decisive word in reference to the strife and contention 
about the manner of receiving heathen converts into the 
Christian Church. Then it was that he offered that 
compromise recorded in the Acts xv. 13 — 21, which 
practically settled those difficulties forever. Paul calls 
him one of the pillars of the Church. (Gal. ii. 9.) 

There were many who were called James, from 
whom, and from whose labors, he and his labors must 
be distinguished. 

He also frequented the temple, and prayed so often 
upon his knees for the forgiveness of the sins of his 
people, that his knees became callous like those of a 
camel. On account of his distinguished piety and sanc- 
tity, he is also called ^^the Just.'' Wherever he is men- 
tioned, whether in the Acts of the Apostles, or in Paul's 
epistles, he is always represented as a person of high 
standing and great importance. His opinion always had 
great weight in the regulations of the Apostolic doings. 
He was, no doubt, the most important person among 



58 THE LIVES OP 

the Apostles at Jerusalem, after Peter, the chief of the 
Apostles, had directed his attention elsewhere. But, 
notwithstanding the high esteem in which he was held, 
his life was still prematurely terminated by martyrdom. 
He was naturally so constituted, being yet an Apostle 
of the Circumcision, that if any one could save and 
bring Jews over to Christianity, he could ; but when 
they refused at the eleventh hour to hear the Messenger 
of Peace, the divine forbearance was exhausted. This 
ended the mission of James, at the time when the long- 
threatened judgment of God was about to break upon 

them. 

§ 2. HIS EPISTLE. 

It is generally supposed, and it is also the uniform 
tradition of the Church, that the Epistle of James was 
written by the Apostle James, called ^Hhe Just.^' True, 
it was not admitted till the fourth century that James 
the Just was one and the same person as James the 
Less, and one of the twelve Apostles. Though there 
was some doubt at first as to its author, it is now almost 
universally admitted from both external and internal evi- 
dence of the Epistle, that James the Less had written it 
shortly before his death, which took place A. D. 62. 
And also because it was found in the Syriac version, 
which was made toward the end of the first century, 
and doubtless intended for converted Jews, as well as 
for '' the twelve^cribes scattered abroad,^^ so as to pre- 



THE APOSTLES. 69 

pare them for the overwhelming destruction of the Jew- 
ish nation. 

It is called a Catholic Epistle^ because it is not ad- 
dressed to any particular person or Church, but to Jew- 
ish converts everywhere, as well as to the unconverted 
part of the whole nation, and is, also, intended for the 
whole Christian Church. The immediate design of the 
Epistle was to animate the Jewish Christians to bear 
patiently any suffering to which they might be exposed, 
assuring them that God would listen to and support 
them in their sincere prayers. He also exhorted them 
to have a just and impartial regard for the poor ; to 
obey God's commandments ; and show^ed the insuffi- 
ciency of faith without works ; the necessity of strictly 
governing the tongue, and cautions them against strife, 
pride, sensual passions, rash judgment, &c. He further 
announces threats against persons w^ho make improper 
use of riches, and intimates the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. 

It is supposed by some that the sharp rebukes and 
awful warnings given in his Epistle stirred up the per- 
secuting rage of the Jews, which terminated his life. It 
is, indeed, wonderful that he was preserved so many 
years in so perilous a situation. This must alone be 
accounted for by ascribing it to the Lord's immediate 
protection. 



60 THE LIVES OF 

§ 3. HIS DEATH. 

The writing of this Epistle was doubtless one of the 
last great acts of his lite. When the Apostles were 
commissioned to preach the glad tidings of salvation to 
all the worldj commencing at Jerusalem^ there was still 
needed one who should remain in that city, to which all 
the sons of Israel, throughout the world, looked as the 
fountain of all religious light. There was the scene of 
the triumph of Christian faith. There the great Founder 
of our holy religion, the Saviour of the world, had died 
and triumphed over the powers of hell and darkness, by 
His glorious resurrection, and triumphant ascension 
into heaven. 

He was, as stated before, the best-fitted, and most 
influential among the Jews, because of his most zealous 
conformity to the Mosaic law. The last mention of 
James in the Acts of the Apostles is, when Paul for the 
last time visited Jerusalem, and also James, and with 
his associates made report to him and his elders, of the 
labors among the Gentiles, and handed over his collec- 
tions for the poor Jewish Christians of Palestine. James 
was, no doubt, then the head and leader among the 
Christians there. But after he had borne powerful 
testimony among the Jews at Jerusalem, that Jesus was 
the Messiah, and had pointed to His second coming in 
the clouds of heaven, he was thrown down from the 
battlement by them, and as he was not killed by the 



THE APOSTLES. 61 

fall, they began to cast stones upon him. The holy 
Apostle kneeling down, prayed for his murderers, say- 
ing, ^^I entreat, O Lord God the Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do/^ One of them at 
length struck him with a pole and killed him. This 
took place about A. D. 62. At this time the procurator 
Festus had died, and his successor Albius had not yet 
arrived. The Jews were then without a governor, and 
thus at liberty to gratify their turbulent passions. James 
being the leading man among the Christians at Jerusa- 
lem, being called the ^^ Just'^ among the people, all the 
hatred which the chief men bore to the followers of Je- 
sus was therefore concentrated on him. 

He was buried near the temple, and his tombstone 
was still pointed out in the time of Hegesippus, a Church 
historian of the second century. He was thus prevented 
from seeing the misery and destruction of that stubborn 
and rebellious people. He was a true witness that Je- 
sus is the Christ both to the Jews and Gentiles. The 
Apostle James was held in such high veneration for his 
righteousness, that the best and wisest among the Jews 
considered his martyrdom to have been the cause of 
their siege^ which soon followed after his death. Jo- 
sephus thought and declared it to have been the com- 
mon opinion that the sufferings of the Jews and the de- 
struction of their city and temple were owing to the an- 
ger of God, excited by the murder of James. This must 



62 THE LIVES OF 

be considered a strong and remarkable testimony to the 
character of this Apostle, as it is given by one who did 
not believe that Jesus was the Christ. 

Thus did this great and good man fall asleep, in the 
ninety-sixth year of his age, about twenty-nine years af- 
ter the ascension of our Saviour. He was a man of very 
temperate habits, wholly abstaining from flesh, drinking 
neither wine nor strong drink, and an example for all 
Christians to imitate. 



THE APOSTLES. 63 



CHAPTER TX. 



THE APOSTLE SIMON ZELOTES. 



This Apostle is called Simon the Canaanite. (Matt. 
X. 4.) Of his history, parentage, or labors, we know 
very little, either from history or tradition. He appears 
in the New Testament as one of the twelve disciples of 
Christ. He was called Simon Zelotes, perhaps, because 
he was of Cana in Galilee; but we think more likely 
because his name seems to have been derived from the 
Hebrew root, Quina or Kaiia, signifying the same as 
Zelotes in Greek, ^4o be zealous,'' or ^^one who is zeal- 
ous.'' This name he could hardly have received from 
the sect called ^^ Zealots," which arose long after the 
death of Christ; it is more probable that he bears this 
name, because of his great zeal for the cause of Christ, 
which he had espoused. 

In reference to his labors, we have no positive cer- 
tainty. Some Church Fathers identify him with Simeon, 
son of Cleopas, who, according to Eusebius, succeeded 
James as Bishop of Jerusalem, and was crucified by 
Trajan, in the one hundred and twentieth year of his 
age. But according to others, he preached in Egypt, 



64 THE LIVES OF 

Cyrene, Mauritania, Lybia, and at last in the British 
Isles, where he was crucified. Finally, Abdias* tells 
us, that he with Judas Thaddeus was taken to Persia 
and Babylon, and murdered at Sunir. One thing, how- 
ever, is certain, all the respectable authorities go to con- 
firm the general testimony in favor of the movement of 
all the Apostles from Jerusalem, before its destruction, 
to the countries east of the Euphrates. No doubt this 
Apostle, like the rest, ended his life by martyrdom. 

*-Abdias, the supposed author of an apocryphal history of 
the Apostles ; about the 5lh or 6th century. 



THE APOSTLES. 65 



CHAPTER X. 



THE APOSTLE JUDE. 



§ 1. HIS NAME. 

We have several Apostles who bear the name of 
Jude. This would seem to show a great poverty of 
appellatives among their parents. Among the twelve 
there are two Simons, two Jameses, and two Judases ; 
and including those whose labors were connected with 
the Apostles, we have also three Johns, (the Baptist, the 
Apostle and John Mark,) and two Philips, besides 
others of minor importance. This is sometimes apt to 
create confusion in our minds, which can, however, be 
easily avoided. 

In the case of Jude, this is easily done, because his 
name is generally written Juda, or Jude, while that of 
the traitor is written Judas. Jude was a brother of 
James, and in his Epistle he calls himself the " brother 
of James.^' From all that can be learned from the dif- 
ferent gospels, it would appear that Judas, JuGa, or 
Jude, the brother of James, and Libbeus or Thaddeus, 
were only different names of the same Apostle. 
5 



66 THE LIVES OF 

Some, however, suppose that these two different sets 
of names referred to two different persons, who were 
Apostles, but were afterwards rejected ijy Christ, for 
reasons now unknown; or were by some of the Evan- 
gelists considered as Apostles, but not by others; but 
this is very improbable. 

§ 2. HIS LABORS AND DEATH. 

We find very little account of his labors that is at 
all reliable. Jude was the son of Alpheus, brother of 
James the Less, and also called one of the Lord's breth- 
ren. We are not told when, or how he was called to be 
an Apostle. It has been supposed that before his call 
to the Apostleship, he was a husbandman, and that he 
was married and had children. The Apostles sent 
men to Antioch to inform them of the result of the 
Apostolic Council held at Jerusalem, A. D. 50, of 
which Judas was one. (Acts xv. 22.) 

The only particular account we have of him, is found 
in John xiv. 22, where he asked the Lord, " How is 
it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us and not to the 
world ?^' Jesus answered and said unto him, '^If a 
man love me, he will keep my words, and my Eather 
will love him, and we will come unto him, and make 
our abode with him.'' 

It is supposed that after the Pentecost he preached 
for some time in several parts of the land of Israel, and 



THE APOSTLES. 67 

wrought miracles in the name of Christ. But it is also 
highly probable that he afterwards preached the Gospel 
to Jews and Gentiles in other countries. Some say that 
he preached in Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia, 
and in the latter country, through the instigation of the 
magicians, met a cruel death. 

§ 3. HIS EPISTLE. 

The Epistle of Jude is short, containing but one 
chapter of twenty-five verses. It seems to have been 
written against heretics, who by their impious doctrines 
and disorderly lives, corrupted the good morals of the 
Christians. The author calls himself ^^Jude, the ser- 
vant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.^^ At first, 
some few rejected this Epistle, but it was soon received 
by all as genuine Scripture. It is supposed to have 
been written between A. D. 64 and 66. 



68 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTKR XI. 



THE APOSTLE JUDAS ISCARIOT. 



A shade of sadness Avill, no doubt^ pervade the mind 
of every Christian^ when he reads the history of the 
traitor^ Judas Iscariot. The mind at once refers to cases 
of similar characters, which sadly rise up before it, who 
were well known as once among the professed followers 
of Jesus, but who, like Judas, have long since fallen and 
entered into the ranks of the Evil One, over whom 
bitter tears have been wept, and for whose salvation 
many earnest prayers have been offered. 

Of the early history of Judas, of his birth, his home, 
his occupation, his call, or of his previous character, the 
sacred writers bear no testimony. We know from the 
Gospels, that he was one of the twelve disciples, and 
the one who at last betrayed and sold his Master for 
thirty pieces of silver. The holy Scripture challenges 
our faith, especially from the fact, that it is not a one- 
sided representation of events, but a full and honest his- 
tory of facts, whether in favor, or in opposition to Chris- 
tianity. The sacred writers relate the whole truth, both 
as it respects friends and foes; they describe the weak- 



THE APOSTLES. 69 

ness of Christ^s disciples as well as their strength and 

glory. The Bible is^ therefore, a record worthy of our 

faith, 

§ 1. HIS CHAKACTER. 

Judas Iscariot was one of the followers, of our 
Saviour; one who owned and professed Christ before 
the world. He, no doubt, was outwardly a consistent 
servant of Christ. He had, no doubt, a good moral 
character, and was zealous for the upbuilding of Christ\s 
kingdom on earth. He was an Apostle unto whom 
Christ had given ^^ power against unclean spirits, to cast 
them out, and heal all manner of sickness, and all man- 
ner of disease.'^ In short, it is reasonable to suppose, 
that Judas Iscariot was a respectable man, with a char- 
acter as good as that of most of his neighbors, perhaps a 
little better, close-fisted, and sharp in money matters. 
Whatever may have been his business, he had, no doubt, 
a good reputation for honesty, as well as for a careful 
management of the property intrusted to his care. He 
is on several occasions referred to as treasurer and stew- 
ard of the little family of Jesus. He is called the " bag- 
man,'^ the " purser.'^ It is a name descriptive of his 
peculiar duty in receiving the money of the common 
stock of Christ and his Apostles, buying the necessaries 
of life, administering their common charities to the 
poor, and managing all their finances as a steward. 

The motive by which he was induced to connect 



70 THE LIVES OF 

himself to Christ, could not have been a pure one from 
the beginning. In fact, all the disciples seem to have 
been inspired chiefly by the expectation of earthly 
honors, triumphs, and rewards to be won and enjoyed 
in Christ's kingdom ; even contending with one another 
about the question, who should fill the office of the 
highest position and power under his rule. Judas had, 
no doubt, the idea that he would be made the Lord's 
high treasurer, because he had the bag and carried what 
was given. Why not? Because he bought and provi- 
ded for all the wants of the brotherhood of Christ, no 
doubt, he thought, that if he would do this in a wise 
and saving way, it Avould be a service of no small im- 
portance, and this would certainly be a weighty consid- 
eration with Christ, at the time he would select the offi- 
cers for his kingdom. 

Though he filled one of the highest offices in Christ's 
Church, and had every requisite qualification, both as 
regards knowledge, authority, and miraculous influence, 
yet the Saviour knew what base inclinations were in him 
from the beginning. And, instead of becoming more 
and more holy, as he should have done, he became more 
and more selfish and worldly, so as at last to make 
common cause with the wicked, and turn out as his 
Lord's accuser. This same conduct has often been re- 
peated since the days of Christ, by persons of the most 
favored circumstances, who go step by step, further and 



THE APOSTLES. 71 

further^ in the downward course of sin, until ruin and 
destruction stare them in the face. Such not only dis- 
grace and ruin themselves, but also injure the holy 
cause of their Saviour. Many a one like Judas has 
been temporarily wrecked and eternally ruined on ac- 
count of his love for worldly gain. 

The worst enemies of Christ are those within the 
Church. Judas was not only a disciple of Christ^s, 
but also a type of all other traitors. He, like the ava- 
ricious, whom he represents, never turned his face up- 
wards, but, like the brutes, always downward, and away 
from heaven, his destined home. Milton portrays these 
fallen spirits well, when he says: 

" Mammon, the least created spirit that fell 

From heaven ; for even in heaven his looks and thoughts 
Were-.always downward bent, admiring more 

The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, 
Than ought divine or holy else enjoyed."* 

The labors and teachings of Christ had raised up in 
Jerusalem a party against Himself, a combination of 
foes of the most determined and hostile character. The 
great dignitaries of the nation had united to use their 
power, influence and money for His destruction. Judas 
was, no doubt, aware of all this, and hypocrite as he was, 
filled with selfishness, as all misers are, and hollow- 
hearted, full of lies and deceit, destitute of all true godli- 
ness, he could easily be induced to embrace this oppor- 

*Milton Par. Lost. Book 1, lines 679—683. 



72 THE LIVES OF 

tunity of enriching himself. Many a one has since 
sold his Lord and Master for money^ and many more 
are secretly bargaining with Satan still, agreeing to wor- 
ship him, provided he will make them rich. 

§ 2. HIS CRIME. 

Judas Iscariot goes secretly to the enemies of Christ 
and makes a contract to sell his Lord. He did not be- 
come an open foe. He still retained his profession, his 
name, his office, and apparent friendship ; he ate and 
drank, and walked, and conversed, and worshipped 
with Christ. Yet with all these marks of attach- 
ment, he basely covenanted for His life. This was a 
crime of the most aggravated wickedness. This will 
appear when we consider that the person, whom he be- 
trayed, was a friend, a holy, spotless person, the friend 
of man, the Redeemer of the world, the joy of heaven 
and the delight of God. 

What could have been the object for which Judas 
betrayed Christ? This becomes clear, after we under- 
stand the true nature of the plot among the Scribes and 
Pharisees. They, no doubt, felt that Christ's success 
would be the utter ruin of their wicked course of pro- 
ceeding at Jerusalem. He was regarded as a dangerous 
foe to them, because of his repeated encounters with 
them in the temple and other public places of assembly, 
where he struck at the very foundation of all their au- 



THE APOSTLES. 73 

thority and power over the people. It was seen that 
they^ with all their learning, prevailed nothing, and 
were set at naught by an illiterate Galilean, and that 
their greatest and most puzzling attacks upon His wis- 
dom were turned in absolute jest and ridicule against 
them. It was clear that they would soon lose the en- 
tire spiritual control over the people, as they had lost all 
the temporal power of the nation. 

Fearing, no doubt, the tumult of the people, they 
made no open arrest. But did it more slily ; they 
needed, therefore, some spy who could watch His pri- 
vate movements, and when he was unattended by the 
people, deliver Him into their hands. They knew, too, 
that the lip worship of ^^Hosannas'^ could be easily 
turned into the ferocious yell of ^^ Crucify, crucify Him.^^ 
They knew, too, that a person like Pilate, who had lit- 
tle conscience and less honesty, could be easily coerced 
to grant their wishes. While thus deliberating, in comes 
Judas, whose spirit was the very personification of the 
spirit of our age, whose sole object was gain, to make 
money ; honorably, if you can, if not, any how. The 
bargain was soon made for the betrayal of Christ ; thirty 
pieces of silver was the stipulated sum. Some writers 
make it but |4.80, while others make it £3 15s., or 
about $16.87. 

When Christ, with His disciples, was eating the 
paschal lamb and instituted the sacred supper. He said to 



74 THE LIVES OP 

His disciples, ^'One of you will betray me/' This 
solemn assurance excited a most unpleasant sensation, 
and all began to inquire, ^' Lord, is it I V^ John plainly 
inquired^ '' Who is it, Lord T^ Jesus impressively re- 
plied, '' It is lie to whom I shall give a sop when I have 
dipped it/' It was one of His familiar friends, one of 
His chosen companions. As the Lord promised, He 
gave the sop to Judas Iscariot, who, receiving it, was 
not bettered, nor moved to change his dark purpose ; 
but, w^atching his opportunity, he, with satanic spirit, 
resolved immediately to execute his plan in spite of his 
open exposure. Jesus still having His eyes fixed on 
the inward movings of his heart, said to him, '' What 
thou doest, do quickly/' Judas, lost to repentance, 
went out immediately and executed his base design. 
This was all perfectly without meaning to the wonder- 
ing disciples, who thought he was to procure some food 
and give some alms to the poor. Judas, under the in- 
fluence of an evil spirit, to whose direction he was n(>w 
abandoned, eame to the chief priests, who^ no doubt, 
waited for his coming. A band of watchmen and serv- 
ants with swords and cudgels, were soon ready and 
placed under the guidance of Judas, who well knew the 
place to which the Lord would go after the feast, and 
conducted his band of armed men across the brook 
Kedron, to the garden of Gethsemane. On the way he 
arranged with them the sign by which they should^ in 



THE APOSTLES. 75 

spite of the darkness^ recognize Christy the person whose 
capture was the grand object of their dark design. 
"The man whom I shall kiss is He; seize Him.^' 
When they came to the spot of His favorite retreat^ he 
walked up to his Lord with the air of friendly confi- 
dence^ and kissed Him. This shows the close intimacy 
which had existed between the betrayer and the be- 
trayed. Jesus submitted to this kiss^ but remarked^ 
" Jadas! betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?^' 
After the Saviour was taken, no further notice is taken 
of Iscariot^s treachery, until next morning, when Jesus 
was condemned by the Sanhedrim, and dragged away to 
undergo punishment from the secular power. 

The sun of another day had risen upon Judas^ crime; 
he had had time for cool reflection. Spite and avarice 
had both now received their full satisfaction. The 
thirty pieces of silver were his; his Master, who re- 
buked him for his vileness, was now safe in the hands 
of those who were impelled by the darkest passions to 
secure his destruction. But after all, now came the 
better thought, "What had the pure and holy Jesus 
done to deserve this reward at his hands? Had he not 
been called from the sordid pursuits of a common life, 
to the high task of aiding in the regeneration of Israel? 
Had Jesus not taught him, labored with him, prayed for 
him, trusted him as a near friend, making him the 
steward of all the earthly possessions of His iVpostolic 



76 THE LIVES OF 

family, and the organ of his ministrations of charity to 
the poor?'' Mournful thoughts like these, no doubt, 
filled his traitorous heart in the morning. The money 
he received, proved a curse instead of a blessing. He 
found it had been too dearly earned. He repented, but 
repentance is not atonement. Tears of remorse cannot 
take away guilt. The repentance of Peter and Judas are 
different; Peter repented and sought forgiveness and re- 
ceived it; Judas repented, but sought no forgiveness, 
and only sunk the deeper into guilt. That money was 
drinking up all his spiritual happiness. His repentance 
was that of remorse, of despair, and of death. He 
prayed not, he sought not Christ's mercy. 

^^He that trusteth in his riches, shall fall;" again it 
is said by St. James, ^^Go too now, ye rich men, weep 
and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." 
^^Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are 
moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the 
rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall 
eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure 
together for the last days. Behold the hire of the 
laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of 
you kept back by fraud, crieth ; and the cries of them 
which have reaped, are entered into the ears of the 
Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the 
earth, and been wanton ; ye have nourished your hearts, 
as in the day of slaughter. Ye have condemned 



THE APOSTLES. ' 77 

and killed the just, and he does not resist you/^ (James 
V. 1—6.) 

Judas, overwhelmed with vain regrets, took the hate- 
ful though desired price of his villainy, and rushed into 
the presence of his purchasers, held out to them the 
money, confessing his guilt, and saying, " Take back the 
cursed price, I have sinned, I have betrayed innocent 
blood." The proud priests^ in their exulting tyranny, 
coolly and sneeringly replied, ^^What is that to us? 
See thou to that." Judas, now maddened with hopeless 
remorse, flings the cursed price of his infamy and woe 
upon the floor of the temple and rushes out of their 
presence, to seal his crime and misery by the act that 
put him forever beyond the power of redemption. 

§ 3. HIS END. 

His despair Avas so great that he shunned the ob- 
servation of men, fleeing out of the city and terminating 
his career under the most appalling circumstances. The 
wretched man saved his eyes the renewed horror of the 
sight of the crucifixion by closing them in the sleep which 
earthly sights cannot disturb. But even in the mode of 
his death new circumstances of horror occurred. Having 
sold his Saviour, he hangs himself! Apparently a man 
of weight, the instrument of suspension breaking, he fell 
down and his bowels burst out. Truly, the way of 
transgressors is hard. We are told in the Bible he went 



78 THE L1VK8 OF 

to his own j)liiee, not that his sin was nnpardonable in 
itself, but because lie sought no refuge in the Redeemer, 
but rushed into the presence of his Judge before he was 
called, with ali his guilt unpardoned upon his head. 

Judas Iscariot is always named last among the 
Apostles, and with that black brand, ^^even he who be- 
trayed Him;'' intimating thaf from the first Christ 
knew what a wretch he was, and that he had a devil 
and would prove a traitor. But why did our Lord take 
him among the Apostles? We know no better reason, 
but to teach to us that the Church of Christ on earth is 
not perfect; and that we must w^atch and pray, that we 
fall not into temptation. And to encourage and fortify 
His people, if at any time the vilest scandals should 
break out, that they would not feel discou.aged. And 
further, we learn from this, that tares among wheat, 
wolves among sheep, must be expected, and that a day 
of discovery is also coming, when hypocrites shall be 
unmasked and discarded. Judas, though dead, yet 
preaches to all men, " Beware of hypocrisy ! Beware of 
the deceitfulness and the hardening influence of sin ! 
Beware of covetousness ! Beware of despondency !'' Ab- 
stain from sin ; but if in an evil hour you should fall into 
sin, repent, not as Judas, but go to Christ and pray con- 
fidingly, until you receive pardon from guilt. Truly, 
^*^The sin of Judas is written w^ith a pen of iron on a 
tablet of marble." 



THE APOSTLES. 79 



CHAPTER XIL 



THE APOSTLE JOHN. 



§ 1. HIS BIRTH AND NAME. 

The Apostle John was the beloved disciple of the 
Lord. The one who should put the finishing stroke to 
the internal and external organization of the Church. 
This disciple was a son of Zebedee and Salome ; his 
mother was a sister to Mary^ the mother of the Lord, 
and he was a brother of James the Elder. He was also 
of Galilee, and, with several of the Apostles, a fisher- 
man by occupation. His birth-place was, no doubt, 
that of Peter, James and Philip, namely Bethsaida. His 
parents, as well as himself, seem to have been persons of 
some means. (Mark i. 20.) John himself also owned a 
house. (John xix. 27.) 

His mother, Salome, is the one who followed the 
Saviour and ministered to his temporal wants, but also 
the one who prayed the Lord that He should grant that 
her two sons might sit, the one on His right hand and 
the other on His left, when He reigned in His kingdom 
of glory. 



80 THE I^IVES OF 

John is called ^Hhe disciple whom Jesus loved/^ not 
as some have erroneously supposed, because any peculiar 
softness was the essential feature of his nature, for he, 
with his brother James, was rather of a stern and fiery 
temperament ; but rather on account of that deep and 
penetrating spirit, and keen eye, and implicit reliance on 
the Lord. He, with his brother James, is called ^^Son 
of Thunder,'^ probably because by his preaching and 
miraculous poAver he would, like thunder, bear down 
all opposition to the Saviour's kingdom. 

§ 2. HIS APOSTOLIC CHARACTER. 

He was not like Paul, a man of a finished or scien- 
tific education, neither could he have been an ignorant 
man. The seed of piety was, no doubt, planted in his 
youthful heart by his pious mother. He must, accord- 
ing to Jewish custom, have been at least tolerably well 
informed, or versed in the Old Testament revelations. 
Whatever may have been wanting in his education, was 
supplied by the three years' instruction from his Mas- 
ter, and the illumination of the Holy Ghost. He was a 
person of great depth of thought and contemplation, he 
gazed with his whole soul upon the object before him ; 
surveying all as in one picture, and presented the pro- 
foundest truths as an eye-witness, just as they in reality 
lay before him. His knowledge of divine things, is the 
deep insight of love, which ever fixes itself at the 



THE APOSTLES. 81 

centre^ and from thence surveys all the points of the 
circumference at once. 

He was, no doubt, one of the youngest, if not the 
youngest, of all the Apostles. He is believed to have 
been only twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, when 
he began to follow Jesus. In his youth he became a 
disciple of John the Baptist. For he is undoubtedly 
the one not named of the two disciples of John, of 
whom he himself speaks in his Gospel, (i. 35.) His 
soul had doubtless longed for the hope of Israel, and 
when John, the herald of the Saviour's coming, pointed 
to Christ as the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin 
of the world, he immediately left all, and followed 
Jesus, (i. 37.) John, after he first saw the Lord, re- 
turned again with Peter and Andrew, to his home and 
trade. But the good seed which had fallen into his 
heart, germinated and unfolded itself. It was part of 
the Lord^s great wisdom, as a teacher, to do no violence 
to individual natures, in drawing them 'to Himself. 
Soon after this, John and James, Peter and Andrew, 
were called aw^ay from their occupation by Jesus, to 
to become His constant followers and Apostles. Thus 
John is one of those disciples who are gradually drawn, 
more and more, into the fellowship of the Redeemer, 
Avithout any violent inward struggle, or unusual out- 
ward changes; Avhile Paul furnishes a most striking 
example of a sudden conversion. The first mode and 
6 



82 THE LIVES OF 

change to a life of holiness, is suited to those who are 
dedicated to Christ in holy baptism, as children in whom 
the seed of divine life gradually developes, and to those 
natures which are mild, contemplative, and modest, 
"such as Thomas A. Kempis, Melanchton, Spener, Ben- 
gel and Zinzendorf; the other to such strong, impetu- 
ous, resolute, independent natures, as Tertullian, Au- 
gustine, Luther, Farel and Calvin/^ 

John was particularly jealous for his Master's honor, 
so that when he found one who was also casting out 
devils in his Master's name, he forbade him, because he 
did not follow Christ with them, as he thought. But 
when he related this fact to his Lord, he received the 
answer, "Forbid him not; for there is no man who can 
do a miracle in my name, who will lightly speak evil of 
me. For he who is not against us, is on our part." 
Soon after this James and John were sent by the liOrd 
to secure a comfortable stopping place at a Samaritan 
village, along the road to Jerusalem. But the Samari- 
tans who were bitter enemies of the Jews, and sectarians 
as they were, absolutely refused to open their doors, in 
hospitality to him whose face was set "as though he 
would go to Jerusalem." As they related, with sec- 
tarian bitterness, the inhospitable and scornful rejection 
of Jesus, the two Boanerges, with a spirit in accordance 
with their surname, inquired, "Lord! wilt thou that 
we command fire to come down from heaven, and con- 



THE APOSTLES. 83 

sume them, as Elijah did?'' (2 Kings i. 9— 12.) To 
which the Lord replied^ ^^Ye know not what manner of 
spirits ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to 
destroy men's lives, but to save them." 

During the lifetime of Jesus, John is not as con- 
spicuous as some of the other Apostles, but we feel all 
along that his work lies in the future. John is not 
mentioned again in the Gospel history, until near tlie 
close of the Saviour's labors, when he is about to pre- 
pare the Twelve for the great change in His life, with 
long and earnest instruction and prayer. John and 
Peter are sent to make the preliminary arrangements for 
their final meeting, the eating of the paschal lamb, and 
the institution of the Holy Supper. John, whose soul 
was formed for deep friendship and ardent love, was 
one of the most confidential disciples of the Lord. He, 
his brother James and Simon Peter, were the chosen 
among the chosen band ; the holy triad, upon whom the 
Saviour bestowed special favor. They alone were ad- 
mitted to witness the raising of Jairus' daughter, the 
transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, and his 
agony in Gethsemane. 

As they were eating the paschal lamb, the disciples 
were reclining around the table on couches, according to 
Oriental and Roman custom, John was next to Jesus. 
According to our modern style, this seems to be a 
very awkward and almost impossible posture ; those 



84 THE T.IVES OF 

sharing the same conchy whose feelings of aifection led 
them most readily together. John mentions himself as 
the disciple whom Jesus loved, showing how closely 
their spirits were drawn together in the most sacred 
aflPection. This did certainly not rest upon that mild 
and gentle temperament in John, which characterized 
the Redeemer. John had not that spirit of forgiveness 
which Jesus tried to inculcate ; but a firm, fiery thun- 
dering zeal, arising from a temperament ardent alike in 
anger and love. While Peter and Paul had the gift for 
planting, John, like Apollos, had the talents for water- 
ing. He stood aside of Peter in mysterious silence, yet 
one feels that he bears in his soul a world of thoughts, 
w^hich in proper time and place he would reveal. To 
him was committed the work of finishing the Church. 
All the Apostles seem to have been marked with a firm 
character, whose hearts seemed to glow with affection as 
well as wrathful feelings, in their love for Jesus. Jose- 
phus describes the whole Galilean race as "ardent and 
fierce.^^ And this was the very temperament which 
fitted them, above all other men, for the laying of the 
deep foundations of the Christian faith, amid opposition, 
hatred, confusion and bloodshed. 

At this paschal feast John, leaning on the bosom of 
Jesus, passed the parting hours of his most intimate 
communion with his already doomed Lord. And so 
close was this communion, that when Jesus men- 



THE APOSTLES. 85 

tioned that there was a traitor among them^ and all in- 
quired, ^^Lord, is it I?^^ Peter made signs to John, 
that he should ask Him^ because he would be more 
likely to receive a direct answer than any one else. 
The beloved disciple, therefore, looking up from the 
bosom of Jesus into the face of the Lord, with the con- 
fidence of familiar affection, inquired, "Who is it, 
Lord?^^ To which the Saviour replied, "The one to 
whom I shall give the sop.'^ This he gave to Judas. 

After the scenes of Gethsemane, when the alarmed 
disciples fled from their captured Master, to avoid the 
same fate, John also shared in the race ; but on becom- 
ing assured that no pursuit of the secondary members of 
the party was intended, he quietly walked back after 
the armed train, keeping, moreover, close to them, as 
appears by his arriving at the palace gate along with 
them, and entering with the rest. On his way, in the 
darkness, he fell in with his friend Peter, also anxiously 
following the train, to learn the fate of his Master. John 
now proved of great advantage to Peter ; for, having 
some acquaintance w^ith the High Priest's family, he 
might expect admission to the hall without difficulty. 
This fact is recorded by John himself in his gospel, 
where, in his modest way of speaking, he refers to Peter 
and "another disciple.^' (xviii. 15.) Of the conduct of 
John during the trial of Jesus, not a word is mentioned, 
nor is he noticed in any of the gospels, except his own, 



86 THE LIVES OF 

as present during any of tliese sad events ; but from his 
own gospel it appears that, in the hour or darkness and 
horror, he stood by the cross of his beloved Lord, with 
those women who had been the constant servants of Je- 
sus during his life, and were still faithful, even at His 
death. Among these women was the mother of Jesus, 
who, as we can easily imagine, now stood in the most 
desolate agony by the cross of her innocent and mur- 
dered son, homeless and houseless in the world, without 
a single person to whom she had a natural right to look 
for protection or support. Just before the last agony, 
Jesus turned to the mournful group, and seeing his 
mother near the disciple whom he loved, he said : 
'' Woman ! behold thy son ^P And then to John : "Be- 
hold thy mother !^^ These simple words showed that 
the Saviour had full confidence in the sincerity of John^s 
aifection, and they were sufficient, for '^from that hour 
he took her to his own house/^ (John xix. 27.) 

On hearing from the women the strange story that 
the grave was open and the body of Christ taken away, 
he, with Peter, ran with great haste to the grave, filled 
with the greatest anxiety to learn the nature of the cir- 
cumstances. The youthful John outstripped Peter and 
came first to the sepulchre, and looked with breathless 
silence into the tomb for the body of his Master. Peter, 
when he came up, went into the tomb, and John fol- 
lowed him, and both closely examined all parts of the 



THE APOSTLES. 87 

tomb. The grave clothes were there carefully rolled up, 
but no sign of the body that once occupied them, was to 
be found; They believed the report of the women, that 
some ill-disposed persons had stolen His body, perhaps 
to complete the bloody deed, by denying him so honora- 
ble a burial as the wealthy Joseph had given Him. In 
sorrow and distress he returned with Peter to his own 
house, not knowing what had become of the body of his 
Master. 

On the evening of the same day Jesus meets His 
disciples and shows them His hands and His side ; and, 
again, when seven of the disciples were fishing on the 
Lake of Galilee for a whole night in vain, when the 
risen Lord helped them out of their strait by a miracle ; 
thus hinting to them that in their spiritual work noth- 
ing could be done by mere human power, but that all 
depended on the word of the Lord. Here Peter was re- 
instated to his former office, and the Lord foretold him 
his future destiny. Peter, desiring to pry still deeper 
into futurity, asked also in reference to John : "Lord, 
what shall this man do f^ To which Jesus replied : 
"If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee V^ This gave rise to the erroneous idea that John 
should never die. It may, however, have had reference 
to Christ^s coming in judgment on Jerusalem; for in 
reference to that fact he had often given warnings, as au 
event for which they must be prepared. 



88 THE LIVES^OF 

After the ascension, John is mentioned along with 
the rest who were in the upper room, and also several 
times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was, also, the 
companion of Peter in the temple at the healing of the 
lame man, and the Sanhedrim condemned him, with Pe- 
ter, to the dungeon. He and Peter were also deputed 
to visit the new church in Samaria, where they both im- 
parted the confirming seal of the spirit to the new con- 
verts. On his journey back to Jerusalem, John preached 
the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. From 
this time on very little notice is taken of John in the 
writings of the Epistles. Paul makes an allusion to 
him in his Epistle to the Galatians, at his second visit 
to Jerusalem, in the year A. D. 50, and mentions James, 
Cephas and John as ^^ pillars'^ in the Church, and says 
they all gave him the right-hand of fellowship. This 
allusion is still of great importance, because it shows 
that John still resided at Jerusalem, and is still stand- 
ing like a pillar, upholding the bright fabric of faith. 
He, no doubt, resided at Jerusalem until the mother of 
the Lord had died. But when Paul made his last visit 
to Jerusalem, in A. D. 58, John is no longer there, or 
else he w^ould have been mentioned by Luke in the Acts. 

From what we can gather from the Church fathers, 
John seems to have had a high regard for the legal ob- 
servance of the Jewish rites, even to the end of his life ; 
for he is said to have kept the 14th of March as the 



THE APOSTLES. 89 

holy day for the resurrection of Christy instead of keep- 
ing it always on Sunday, so as to make it correspond 
with the time of the Jewish Passover. This idea he 
seems also to have implanted into his disciples, and it 
was kept up for a long time in the Eastern Church. 
But though aa observer of Jewish rites, yet he in no 
way made it binding upon the Gentiles, but permitted 
them to act freely. Thus the Apostles Peter, James and 
John, who witnessed the whole teaching of Christ, al- 
ways stood together in the observance of the law, ac- 
knowledging both the law and the spirit to be from one 
and the same God. 

Any further information about John must now be 
gathered from his own writings, from the fathers, and 
irom the tradition of the Church. 

It is still interesting to learn from tradition and the 
fathers, what cannot be known otherwise, of these noble 
witnesses of the truth, but to accept all the ridiculous 
ti;ash coming from the past would be foolish indeed. 
True, the tradition concerning John comes with a much 
higher authority than that of any other Apostle, from 
the fact that he lived to the end of the first century, and 
because it is less absurd, and more probable. A few 
authentic facts can also be derived from the writings of 
the early Church fathers. 

John's departure from Jerusalem must have taken 
place between the years of 51 and 58, and not, as some 



90 THE LIVES OF 

have supposed, at 66, when Cestus Gallus made his 
fruitless attack on the holy city. True, Jesus had fore- 
told that, when they should see Jerusalem encompassed 
with armies, they were to know that the desolation 
thereof was nigh. "Then let them which are in Judea 
flee to the mountains ; and let them who are in the 
midst of it depart out ; and let not them that are in 
other countries enter into it. For these are the days of 
vengeance, that all things which are written may be ful- 
filled.'' History also tells us that "many of the re- 
spectable persons among the Jews, after the alarming 
attack of Cestus, left the city, like passengers from a 
sinking ship.'' This fruitless attack of the Romans 
was, no doubt, so arranged by a divine degree, as to give 
the innocent a timely warning to flee, that the final ruin 
would fall with a certainty on the truly guilty. 

An Apostle like John, so highly inspired, and so 
greatly in the confidence of his Lord, and destined to 
put the last finishing stone upon the organization gf 
the Christian Church, unto whom her mysterious de- 
velopments were exhibited in panoramic vision, would 
certainly not be left to remain and perish with the guilty 
Jews. But the exact time he left Jerusalem, and the 
place of his immediate abode, cannot be given with a 
certainty. The place where he spent the interval be- 
tween the years 50 and 64, cannot be ascertained. Some 
suppose that from Jerusalem he went to Babylon, and 



THE APOSTI.es. 91 

from thence, as a centre, extended,his missionary oper- 
ations among the Gentiles until after 54, when he made 
Ephesus his permanent place of abode. This is not im- 
possible. The exact time he came to Ephesus we know 
not, but it must have been after the death of Paul, 
which took place about the year 68. Because Paul, in 
his valedictory to the officers of the Ephesian Churches 
at Miletus, mentions not a word about John ; nor in his 
epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians, nor in 2d Tim- 
othy, which were all written during Paul's imprison- 
ment at Rome. Up to the time of 68, Paul seems to 
have regarded himself as the superintendent of all the 
churches in Asia Minor. John, therefore, must have 
come to Ephesus after 68. All refer his going to Ephe- 
sus among a people who were mostly foreign to him in 
language, habits and feelings, to the primary impulse of 
the Holy Ghost, which was the constant and unerring 
guide of all the Apostles. He firmly clung to the last 
words of his Lord, ^^ Lo ! I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the world.'' 

^But Christianity made little progress outside of the 
Roman Empire. It never seizes readily on the energies 
of a broken or degenerating people, and has never been 
developed and held uncorrupted by mere savages; nor 
does it fiourish w^here the influences of civilization are 
loosing their hold. If we wish to Christianize a nation, 
we must first raise its standard of intelligence, otherwise 



92 THE LIVES OF 

our labors will^ in a great measure^ be lost. It rather 
takes the spirits that are on the wing for an upward 
course, and rises with them, giving new energy to the 
ascending movement. This is clearly proven from the 
many unsuccessful efforts of our missionaries among 
savages and half-civilized nations. 

True, Paul had labored in Ephesus for several years 
with success, but he w^as always more successful among 
the heathens than among the Jews. Timothy, who 
had been placed by Paul over this congregation, must 
have hailed with delight the venerable Apostle John, 
as one from whom he might derive much divine in- 
struction, since his original teacher, Paul, had fallen by 
heathen persecution. 

The reasons, no doubt, of John's going to Ephesus, 
were the great gathering of Jews at this place, and be- 
cause it was the great central metropolis of the East, 
from which all other parts of the world could be easily 
reached, if his presence would be required elsew^here; 
and because Asia Minor was destined to be the main 
theatre of the Church's action during the next centuries. 
It was a part of divine wisdom that John, who should 
so long survive the death of the other Apostles, and 
complete the founding of the Church, should reside at a 
place where he might have easy access to all the church- 
es, and where he could be easily reached, and his 
prayers and wisdom solicited, as an eye-witness to 



THE APOSTLES. 93 

Jesus. It has been beautifully said, in regard to the 
wonderful providence of God^ that ^^John was sta- 
tioned at Ephesus^ on the ^Egean Sea; so that thence, 
as from a watch-tower^ he might see his peculiar prov- 
ince, Asia, behind him, and might fill it with the in- 
cense of his prayers; before him, too, he had Greece and 
all Europe; so that there, as with the far-sounding 
trumpet of the Lord, he might summon and invite to 
Christ, by his sermons and writings, even the nations 
beyond the sea, by the circumstance that there was a 
most spacious haven, and that vast numbers of traders 
and travelers thronged to the place.^^ 

§ 3. HIS BAXISMEXT TO PATMOS. 

It has been reported that in his old age he made a 
journey to Jerusalem, and also one to Rome, which is 
hardly probable, as he would thereby lose much time 
and gain little. During the reign of Domitian, which 
extended from A. D. 81 to 96, John was interrupted in 
his labors by that tyrant's bloody persecution, who was 
little better than Xero. He killed or banished many 
of the most upright and distinguished men of his king- 
dom. Under his reign many Christians suffered mar- 
tyrdom. Tradition says, that John also suffered, and 
was brought to Rome, plunged into a caldron of boil- 
ing oil, and, unhurt by this, was banished to the island 
of Patmos. Patmos was a small, barren, rocky island 



94 THE LIVES OF ' 

in the ^gean Sea, near the coast of Asia, and thirty or 
forty miles southwest of Ephesus, about eighteen miles 
in circumference; which, on account of its dreary and 
desolate character, was used by the Roman emperors as 
a place of confinement for criminals. To this island 
St. John was banished by the cruel Domitian, but in 
this solitary abode he was comforted by receiving the 
Revelation of the struggles and victories of the Church. 
That he had such a vision while on this barren spot, he 
himself informs us. (Rev. i. 10.) It is confidently as- 
serted by ancient writers, that the banishment of John 
took place in the 15th year of Domitian's reign, (A. D 
95.) But this Domitian was assassinated by his own 
friends in the 16th year of his reign, (A. D. 96.) On 
the news of his death, the Roman Senate immediately 
assembled and elected Coceius Nerva emperor. Nerva, 
who had himself suffered banishment under Domitian, 
was now recalled from exile, and mindful of his own 
calamity, recalled all who had been banished by the late 
tyrant. 

§ 4. JOHN'S RETURN TO EPHESUS, AND 
THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE. 

Christian writers of antiquity state that John was 
thus recalled from Patmos by this just decree of Nerva. 
This, then, would fix the time of John's return to Ephe- 
sus in the first year of Nerva's reign (A. D. 96). He 



THE APOSTLES. 95 

could, therefore, not have been much over a year on this 
barren island. John again at Ephesus presides over the 
churches in Asia until the time of his death. To the 
closing years of his life belong two characteristic anec- 
dotes, which bear the fall impress of truth. 

After having returned from Patmos, says Clement 
of Alexandria, John visited the surrounding region to 
appoint bishops and to organize churches. ^^In a town 
not far from Ephesus, he met with a youth, w^hose 
beauty and ardor at once so engaged his interest, that he 
handed him over to the bishop as an object of very spe- 
cial care. The bishop instructed him in the gospel, and 
connected him wdth the Church in holy baptism. But 
the pastor now^ relaxing his vigilance, the youth, too 
soon deprived of parental care, fell into bad company, 
and even became a leader of a band of robbers, sur- 
passing all his associates in bloodthirsty violence.^^ Some 
time afterwards John came again to that town, and anx- 
iously inquired after the young man. ^' Come,^' said he 
to the bishop, ^^give us back the pledge, which I and 
the Saviour had entrusted to thee before the congrega- 
tion.'' With a sigh the bishop answered, ^^ The youth 
has apostatized and become a robber. Instead of being 
in the Church, he now dwells with his companions in a 
mountain.'' With a loud cry the Apostle rent his 
clothes, smote on his head, and exclaimed : " O what a 
guardian I placed over the soul of my brother !" Tak' 



96 THE LIVES OF 

ing a horse and a guide^ he hurried to the retreat of the 
robbers. Seized by the guard, he made no attempt to 
escape, but begged to be brought to the leader, who, on 
recognizing John, fled for shame. The Apostle, for- 
getting his age, pursued him with might and main, cry- 
ing : " Why fleest thou from me, O child ! from me, 
thy father, an unarmed old man ! Pity me, O child ! 
Be not afraid ! Thou still hast hope of life. I will 
account to Christ for thee. I will gladly, if need be, 
die for thee, as Christ has died for us. Stop ! Believe 
that Christ has sent me.'^ These words were like swords 
to the soul of the unhappy man. He stopped, threw 
down his instruments of murder, and began to tremble 
and weep bitterly. When the aged Apostle came up, 
the youth clasped his knees, prayed with strong lamen- 
tations for pardon, and with bitter tears of repentance, 
as it were, baptized himself a second time. The Apos- 
tle assured him that he had obtained forgiveness for him 
from the Saviour; the young man fell on his knees, 
and kissed his hands. He then led him back to the 
congregation, and there prayed earnestly with him and 
labored with him in fasting, and exhorted liim, till he 
was able to return him to the Church as an exanjple of 
thorough conversion. 

May not many a bishop of souls, on the great day of 
final reckoning, who has been careless and unmindful of 
the souls of those who had been intrusted to their care, 



THE APOSTLES. 97 

but by their negligence were lost^ be thus charged with 
"O what a guardian I placed over the soul of my 
brother V' 

Another equally touching incident is related by 
Jerome^ who says, that John in extreme old age, when 
too weak to go into the assembly, had to be carried. 
Unable to deliver long discourses, he simply said, 
^^ Little children, love one another.'^ When asked why 
he continually repeated this one exhortation, he replied, 
^^ Because this is the command of the Lord, and enough 
is done if this one command is obeyed!" Assuredly so. 
For as God Himself is love, love to Him and to the 
brethren, is the sum and essence of religion and moral- 
ity, the fulfilling of the law and the prophets, the bond 
of perfectness. 

All the old accounts agree that John lived down 
into the reign of the Emperor Trajan, who ascended the 
throne A. D. 98; and that he died a natural death at 
Ephesus, at the advanced age of 90 years or upwards. 
While the other Apostles ended their lives with the 
bloody baptism of martyrdom, John passed along 
through all the tribulations of the primitive church in 
heavenly peace, and at last softly fell asleep on the 
bosom of Jesus. The mysterious language of the Lord, 
^* If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee?^' gave rise to the rumor, that John was not really 
dead, but only asleep, moving the mound over his 
7 



98 THE LIVES OF 

grave with his breathing, awaiting the final advent of 
the Lord. 

" Over the last 40 years of the first century, which 
comprise the peculiar labors of this Apostle and the 
composition of his writings, there hangs a mysterious 
veil. It is with them as with those forty days between the 
Resurrection and Ascension, when the Lord hovered, as 
it were, between earth and heaven ; was near His people, 
yet far away ; discernable by the senses, yet, like a de- 
parted spirit, able to enter a room Avhere the doors were 
shut; ate and drank with His disciples, yet no longer 
needed earthly food.^^ 

§ 5. THE WRITINGS OF JOHN. 

John in his writings is mainly concerned with the 
living knowledge of the holiest mysteries of our faith, 
especially the incarnation and divinity of Christ. Hence 
the Greek fathers called him " the theologian'^ by emi- 
nence. John, no doubt, wrote his Gospel long after the 
other three Gospels had been written. From the inter- " 
nal and external, as well as historical evidence, we can 
say with tolerable certainty, that this Gospel was not 
written till after the year 70; perhaps not, as some 
think, till near the close of the first century. Some are 
also of the opinion that it was written on Patmos, during 
his exile. The best authorities, however, seem to decide 
ip favor of IJphesus as the place; wd this view has 



THE APOSTLES. 99 

been most generally adopted. He has more doctrine 
and less of the historical narrative of the nativity of 
Christ, than any of the other Gospels. He very proba- 
bly had seen the other Gospels before he wrote his, for 
he does not pretend to give a full and complete histori- 
cal narration of events in the life of Christ. But rather 
such facts as had been omitted by the other Evangelists, 
though not as a criticism on the others, but to bring out 
more fully the divine side of the Redeemer. At any 
rate, it is also asserted by early testimony, that John 
wrote his Gospel at the earnest solicitation of his 
friends and disciples, in order to explain more fully the 
details of the divinity of Christ. This account seems 
also to correspond with the structure of his Gospel. It 
may, as some say, perhaps, also have had reference to 
some of the heresies already springing into existence, 
which either denied the divinity or humanity of Christ, 
and which he said would come, yea had come already. 

This Gospel of John may be divided into four 
parts, besides the prologue, in which he describes the 
Eternal Words, as having become flesh in the birth of 
the Son of God. First, then, we have the preparation 
of Christ for His public ministry, by the baptism of 
John the Baptist; the selection of the twelve disciples. 
In the second place, he points out that Christ, by His 
teaching and doctrine, as well as by the exercise of His 
mii'aculous power, is truly the divine Messiah, In the 



100 THE LIVES OF 

third place, Jesus is set forth in the private circle of His 
friends, His last supper, His farewell addrtss. His solemn 
consecration to death, His mediatorial intercession and 
His inward glorification. In the fourth place. His pas- 
sion, resurrection and public glorification as the con- 
queror of death and hell, is beautifully set forth. In a 
word, Jesus Christ is held up as the God-man, in whom 
men, by believing in His name, should obtain eternal 

life. 

§ 6. HIS EPISTLES. 

The Epistles of John were, no doubt, written at 
Ephesus, after the Gospel, but before the Apocalypse, 
and by one and the same author. We have three Epis- 
tles from John, in which he proves himself a truly 
faithful father and pastor, full of the tenderest love and 
care for the welfare of his "little children/^ 

The object of the first Epistle seems to be, to nour- 
ish and strengthen the Christian life, and warn them 
against all laxness, and false teachers. 

The second is addressed to a pious Christian female 
of Asia Minor, by the name of Cyria, commending the 
Christian conduct of her children, and admonishing her 
to remain steadfast in the truth and in love, warning her 
against false teachers. 

The third Epistle, like the second, is very short, 
and is addressed to one Gains, commending him for his 
hospitality to the messengers of faith^ biit rebukes a cer- 



THE APOSTLES. 101 

tain Diotrephes for his ambitious and uncharitable dis- 
position. 

§ 7. THE APOCALYPSE. 

The Revelation of John is the most sublime and 
mysterious production that ever flowed from the pen of 
mortal man. While writings the Apostle seems to have 
lost his self-controlling consciousness^ and is in spiritual 
ecstacy, as an organ of the Holy Ghost. The Apo- 
calypse was, no doubt, written on Patmos, about the 
year A. D. 95 or 96. The production shows a vivid 
imagination. The author moves along majestically, 
with the greatest imagery. He, in the sublimest strains, 
breathes a holy anger against the enemies of God, and 
shows himself to be the "Son of Thunder,'^ who was 
ready to call fire upon the Samaritans. 

John^s peculiar character seems to demand that he 
should produce the Apocalypse. He was the chosen 
guardian of the mother of God, the patriarch of the 
Apostolic Church, who, by his long life, also experi- 
enced much suffering, but he also saw the Church be- 
coming victorious ; he was best fitted to write the Rev- 
elation of the completion of the Church, and to seal her 
sacred records. Some few persons in the third and 
fourth centuries doubted its genuineness, but since that 
time it has been very generally acknowledged as canoni- 
cal. Perhaps no book has undergone a more severe 
criticism, nor is the authenticity of any of the sacred 
books, perhaps, better established than it. 



102 THE LIVES OF 

The Apocalypse opens with a splendid view of the 
circumstances of Christ's presence. John^ banished on 
the isle of Patmos for preaching the word of God, and 
for bearing witness of Christ, one Lord's day, while in 
deep meditation, heard behind him a great voice, as of a 
trumpet, which broke upon his startled ear, with the 
most solemn annunciation of the presence of Him who 
is the Alpha and Omega. And as he turned and saw 
the person in His glory and splendor, he fell at His feet 
as one dead. But His life-giving hand raised him up 
and comforted him, saying, '' Fear not, I am the first and 
the last ; I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and be- 
hold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the 
keys of hell and of death.'' 

The Franciscan monks, who fell under the displeas- 
ure of the Pope, during the middle ages, were, perhaps, 
the first who resorted to the Apocalypse and applied, with 
all possible malice, both by pen and tongue, the name 
of the mystic Babylon to the Church of Rome. Ever 
since, it became the great storehouse from which extreme 
spiritual abuse has been denounced against the Pope and 
Church of Rome. We find men, ministers even, and 
not a few, who are yet so bigoted or blind that they can 
see little or nothing in it, but a prophetic description of 
the downfall of the Church of Rome. And thus the 
Revelation of John has been for the last two centuries 
made a licensed subject for the indulgence of idle fan- 



THE APOSTLES. 103 

cies^ and used as a grand storehouse for every ^^ filthy 
dreamer'^ to draw upon for the support of his particular 
notions of the signs of the times^ and for a warrant of 
his special denunciations of divine wrath and coming 
ruin^ against other systems which are hateful in his re- 
ligious eyes. We have always more pity than respect 
for such idle fancies of the brain, which will all come to 
naught, while the great knowledge and development of 
the Church is still going forward. Among all such de- 
luded fanatics, those who refuse to join in the cry, must 
be condemned by the same anathemas which are con- 
stantly hurled against the Church of Rome, as the 
mother of harlots. We do not envy all such their bone, 
but we pity their delusion. 

This book contains visions and predictions of the 
most remarkable revolutions and events in the Christian 
Church, until the consummation of all things. A suc- 
cessful attempt to explain these prophecies fully is as 
yet an impossibility. ^^To explain this book perfectly,^^ 
says Bishop Newton, ^^is not the work of one man, or 
of one age ; but probably it will never be clearly under- 
stood, till it is all fulfilled. ^^ Its gracious design, no 
doubt, is, " that the gradual fulfillment of these predic- 
tions should afford, in every succeeding period of time, 
additional testimony to the divine origin of our Holy 
Religion.'^ 

We append here the wonderful explanation of Hugo 



104 THE LIVES OF 

Grotius, by which the three grand divisions of the pro- 
phetical plan of the work is given. He says: "The 
visions, as far as to the end of the 11th chapter, describe 
the affairs of the Jews ; then, as far as to the end of the 
20th chapter, the end of the Komans ; and thence to the 
end, the most flourishing state of the Christian Church.'^ 
Later theologians have carried this idea still further, and 
penetrated still deeper into the mysteries of the whole, a 
view of which we here add, without vouching for the 
correctness of the same. "They,^' says Mr. Bacon, 
"have shown that the two cities, Rome and Jerusalem, 
whose fate constitutes the most considerable portions of 
the Apocalypse, are mentioned only as the seats of two 
religions whose fall is foretold ; and that the third city, 
the new Jerusalem, whose triumphant heavenly build- 
ing is described in the end, after the downfall of the 
former two, is the religion of Christ. Of these three 
cities, the first is called Sodom ; but it is easy to see 
that this name of sin and ruin is only used to designate 
another devoted by the wrath of God to a similar de- 
struction. Indeed, the sacred writer himself explains 
that this is only a metaphorical or spiritual use of the 
term, — " which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt ;^' 
— and to set its locality beyond all possibility of doubt, 
it is, furthermore, described as the city " where also our 
Lord was crucified." It is also called the "Holy City," 
and in it was the temple. Within have been slain two 



THE APOSTLES. 105 

faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ ; these are the two 
Jameses, — the great Apostolic protomartyrs ; James, the 
son of Zebedee, killed by Herod Agrippa, and James, 
the brother of our Lord, the son of Alpheus, killed by 
order of the High Priest, in the reign of Nero, as de- 
scribed in the lives of those Apostles. The ruin of the 
city is, therefore, sealed. The second descrioed is called 
Babylon ; but that Chaldean city had fallen to the dust 
of its plain, centuries before ; and this city, on the other 
hand, stood on seven hills, and it was at the moment 
when the Apostle wrote, the seat of ^Hhe kingdom of 
the kingdoms of the earth,^^ the capital of the nations of 
the world, — expressions which distinctly mark it to be 
Imperial Rouie. The seven angels pour out the seven 
vials of wrath on this Babylon, and the awful ruin of 
this mighty city is completed. 

^^To give repetition and variety to this grand view of 
the downfall of these two dominant religions, and to 
present these grand objects of the Apocalypse in new re- 
lations to futurity, which could not be fully expressed 
under the original figures of the cities which were the 
capital seats of each, they are again presented under the 
poetical image of two females, whose actions and features 
describe the fate of these two systems, and their up- 
holders. First, immediately after the account of the 
city, which is called Sodom, a female is described as ap- 
pearing in the heavens, in a most peculiar array of glory, 



106 THE LIVES OF 

clothed in the sun's rays, with the moon beneath her 
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. This 
woman, thus splendidly arrayed, and exalted to the 
skies, represents the ancient covenant, crowned with all 
the old and holy honors of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
A huge red dragon (the image under which Daniel an- 
ciently represented idolatry) rises in the heavens, sweep- 
ing away the third part of the stars, and characterized 
^^by seven heads and ten horns (thus identified with a 
subsequent metaphor representing Imperial Rome) ; he 
rages to devour the offspring to which the woman is 
about to give existence. The child is born destined to 
rule all nations with a rod of iron, and is caught up to 
the throne of God, while the mother flees from the ra2:e 
of the dragon into the wilderness, where she is to wan- 
der for ages, till the time decreed by God for her return. 
Thus, when from the ancient covenant had sprung forth 
the new revelation of truth in Jesus, it was driven by 
the rage of heathenism from its seat of glory to wander 
in loneliness, unheeded save by God, till the far distant 
day of its re-union with its heavenly offspring, which is, 
under the favor of God, advancing to a firm and lasting 
dominion over the nations. Even in her retirement she 
was followed by the persecutions of the dragon, now 
cast down from higher glories — but his fury is lost — she 
is protected by the earth [sheltered by the Parthian Em- 
pire ; (?)] yet the dragon still persecutes those of her 



THE APOSTLES. 107 

children who believe in Christy and are yet within his 
power ; [Jews and Christians persecuted in Rome, by 
Nero and Domitian." (?)] 

^^ Again alter the punishment and destruction of im- 
perial Babylon have been described, a second female ap- 
pears, not in heaven, like the first, but in an earthly 
wilderness, splendidly attired, but not with the heavenly 
glories of the sun, moon and stars. Purple and scarlet 
robes are her covering, marking an imperial honor, and 
gold, silver, and all earthly gems adorn her — showing 
only worldly greatness. In her hand is the golden cup 
of sins and abominations, and she is designated beyond 
all possibility of mistake, by the words " 3Iystery^ 
Babylon the Great,"^^ This refers to the fact that Rome 
had another name which was kept a profound secret, 
known only to the priests, and on the preservation of 
which religious " mystery,'^ the fortunes of the empire 
were supposed to depend. The second name identifies 
her with the city before described as ^^ Babylon.'^ She 
sits on a scarlet beast, with seven heads and ten horns. 
The former are afterwards minutely explained by the 
Apostle himself, in the same chapter as the seven hills 
on which she sits; they are also seven kings, that is, 
it would seem, seven periods of empire, epochs of 
triumph, or leaders of conquest, of which five are past, 
one now is, and one brief one is yet to come, and the 
bloody beast itself — the religion of heathenism is ano- 



108 THE LIVES OP 

ther^ an eighth power, yet one of the seven, coeval with 
all and each, yet doomed with them at last to perdition. 
The ten horns are the ten kings or sovereigns who never 
received any lasting dominion, but merely held the sway, 
one after another, a brief hour with the beast, or spirit 
of heathenism. These, in short, are the ten emperors of 
Rome before the days of the Apocalypse : Augustus, 
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitel- 
lius, Vespasian and Titus. These had all reigned, each 
his hour, giving his power to the support of heathenism, 
and thus warring against the faith of the true believers. 
Still, though reigning over the imperial city, they shall 
hate her, and make her desolate; strip her of her costly 
attire, and burn her with fire. How well expressed 
here the tyranny of the worst of the Caesars, plundering 
the State, banishing the citizens, and, the case of Nero, 
^'burning her with fire.^^ Who can mistake the gor- 
geously awful picture ? It is heathen imperial Rome, 
desolating and desolated ; at that moment suffering 
under the tyrannic sway of him whom the Apostle can- 
not yet number with the gloomy Ten that have passed 
away to the tomb of ages gone. It is the mystic Baby- 
lon, drunk with the blood of the faithful witness of 
Christ, and triumphing in the agonies of his saints, 
"butchered to make a Roman holiday !'' No wonder 
that the amazement of the Apostolic seer should deepen 
into horror, and heighten to indignation. Through her 



THE APOSTLES. 109 

tyranny, his brethren had been slaughtered, or driven 
out from among men like beasts; imd by that same 
tyranny he himself was now doomed to a lonely exile 
from friends and Apostolic duties, on that wild heap of 
barren rocks. Well might he burst out in prophetic 
denunciation of her ruin, and rejoice in the awful doom 
which the angels of God sung over her ; and listen ex- 
ultingly to the final wail over her distant fall, rolling up 
from futurity, in the coming day of the Gothic and 
Vandal and Hunnish and Herulic ravagers, when she 
should be ^Hhe desolator desolate, the victor over- 
thrown.'^ 

"As there are three mystically named cities — Sodom, 
Babylon and the new Jerusalem — so there are three 
metaphoric females — the star crowned woman in heaven, 
the bloody harlot on the beast in the wilderness, and the 
bride, the Lamb's wife. A peculiar fate befalls each 
of the three pairs. The Spiritual Sodom (Jerusalem) 
falls into a temporary ruin, trodden under foot by the 
Gentiles, forty-two months ; and the star crowned daugh- 
ter of Zion (Judaism) wanders desolate in the w^ilderness 
of the world, for twelve hundred and sixty days, till the 
hand of God shall restore her to grace and glory. The 
Gi^eat Babylon of the seven hills, (Rome,) falls under a 
doom of far darker, and of irrevocable desolation — like 
the dashing roar of the sinking rock thrown into the 
sea, she is thrown down, and shall be found no more at 



110 THE LIVES OF 

all. And such, too, is the doom of the fierce scarlet 
rider of the beast, (heathenism) — ^^ Rejoice over her, O 
heaven! and ye holy Apostles and prophets! for God 
has avenged you on her/' But beyond all this awful 
ruin appears a vision of contrasting splendid beauty :'' 

**The first *'two" acts already past, 

The **third" shall *>lose the drama with the day — 
Time's noblest offspring is the last." 

^^The shouts of vindictive triumph over the dread- 
ful downfall of the bloody city, now soften and sweeten 
into the songs of joy and praise, while the New Jeru- 
salem (the Church of God and Christ) comes down 
from the heavens in a solemn, glorious mass of living 
splendor, to bless the earth with its holy presence. In 
this last great scene, also, there is a female, the third of 
the mystic series; not like her of the twelve stars, now 
wandering like a widow disconsolate, in the wilderness 
— not like her of the jeweled, scarlet, and purple robes, 
cast down from her lofty seat, like an abandoned harlot^ 
now desolate in ashes, from which her smoke rises up 
forever and ever; but it is one, all holy, Iiappy, pure, 
beautiful, coming down stainless from the throne of 
God, (Christianity) — a bride, crowned with the glory of 
God, adorned for her husband, — the one slain from the 
foundation of the world. He through the opening 
heavens, too, has come forth before her, the Word ot 
God, the Faithful and the True, — known by his bloody 
vesture^ stained, nqt ip the gore of slaughtered victims, 



THE APOSTLES. Ill 

but ill the pure blood poured forth by himself, for the 
world^ from its foundation. Lately he rode forth on his 
white horse, as a warrior-king, dealing judgment upon 
the world with the sword of wrath, — with the scei)ture 
of iron. Behind him rode the armies of heaven — the 
hallowed hosts of the chosen of God^ like their leader on 
white horses, but not like him, in crimson venture ; their 
garments are white and clean, by a miracle of purifica- 
tion^ they are washed and made white in blood. This 
mighty leader, with these bright armies, now returns 
from the conquests to which he rode forth from heaven 
so gloriously. The kings and the hosts of the earth 
have arrayed themselves in vain against him — the 
mighty imperial monster, in all the vastness of his 
wide dominion — the false prophets of heathenism, com- 
bining their vile deceptions with his power, are van- 
quished and crushed with all their miserable slaves, 
whose flesh now fills and fattens the eagles, the vultures 
and the ravens. The spirit of heathenism is crushed; 
the dragon, the monster of idolatry, is chained and sunk 
into the bottomless pit — yet not forever, x^ifter a course 
of ages, — a mystic thousand years — he slowly rises, and 
winding with serpent cunning among the nations, he 
deceives them again; till at last, lifting his head over 
the world, he gathers each idolatrous and barbarous 
host together, from the whole breadth of the earth, en- 
compassing and assaulting the camp of the saints; but 
while they hope for the ruin of the faithful^, fire comes 



112 THE LIVES OF 

down frjom God, and devours them. The accusing 
deceiver, — the genius of idolatry and superstition, is at 
last seized and bound again; but not for a mere tempo- 
rary imprisonment. With the spirit of deception and 
imposture, he is cast into a sea of fire, where both are 
held in unchanging torment, day and night, forever.'^ 

"But one last, awful scene remains; and that is one, 
that in sublimity, and vastness and beauty, shining out 
from amid the most overwhelming horror, as far out- 
goes the highest eiForts of any genius of human poetry, 
as the boundless expanse of the sky excels the mightiest 
work of man. '^ A great white throne is fixed, and One 
sits on it, from whose face heaven and earth flee aw^ay, 
and no place is found for them.'^ "The dead, small 
and great, stand before God; they are judged and 
doomed, as they arise from the sea and from the land — 
from Hades, and from every place of death. ^' Over all 
rises the new heaven and the new earth, to which now 
comes down the city of God — the Church of Christ, — 
into which the victorious, the redeemed, and the faithful 
enter. The conqueror and his armies march into the 
bridal city of the twelve jeweled gates, on whose twelve 
foundation stones are written the names of the mighty 
founders, the twelve Apostles of the slain one. The 
glories of that last, heavenly, and truly eternal city, are 
told ; and the mighty course of prophecy ceases. The 
three great series of events are announced; the endless 
triumphs of the faithful are achieved.^^ 



THE APOSTLES. 113 



Ir^art Second. 



THE APOSTLE PAUL. 



CHAPTER I. 



§ 1. HIS PARENTAGE AND NAME. 

The dispensatioa of the Gospel was, at first, com- 
mitted to men of no rank or literary fame. A few per- 
sons were selected by the Saviour from the humble 
walks of life, as eye-witnesses of His life and works, 
who should, after His ascension, proclaim Him as the 
Redeemer and Saviour of the world. But a few years 
later there was found one among the A2)ostles who 
formed an exception to this general rule. A young 
man of splendid talents and excellent attainments, who, 
by his thorough Jewish training, was especially desig- 
nated from on high to bring the doctrine of the cross to 
the Gentiles. ^^ The man,'^ Chrysostom says, ^Hhree 
cubits high, yet tall enough to touch the heavens.'^ This 
man was called Saul, according to the Hebrew form, 
and Paul, according to the Greek form. The name of 
Saul he received when he was circumcised, according to 
the Jewish custom, and means the ^^ desired" or ^^ prayed 
8 



114 THE LIVES OF 

for/' The birth of Saul must have been the fulfillment 
of his parent's highest happiness, as the time was draw- 
ing nigh in which should be realized the most earnest 
longing for the coming Messiah, who had long been 
promised to the Jewish nation. This would seem to in- 
dicate that his parents regarded him as the child of 
prayer, who was thencelorth, like Samuel, to be conse- 
crated to the service of God. Admitted into the cove- 
nant of God by circumcision, the Jewish child was then 
entitled to all the rights and privileges of the chosen 
people. Saul was, no doubt, from his youth carefully 
instructed according to the prescribed mode laid down 
by Moses in the sixth and eleventh chapters of Deuter- 
onomy ; and trained in that peculiar historical instruc- 
tion, which gave him a glorious recollection of the past 
protection of God, and joyful hopes for the future. 

The Pharisees were the enthusiasts of Judaism. They 
^^ encompassed sea and land to make one proselyte.'^ 
Their power and influence with the people was im- 
mense. They were strict observers of the Law, and 
were equally strict in their religious duties, and given 
to much prayer. They were the better portion of the 
Jewish people. Saul was a " Pharisee, and the son of 
a Pharisee, circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock 
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the He- 
brews, as touching the Law, a Pharisee." He tells us 
that he served God ^^from his forefathers.'^ (2 Tim. i. 3.) 



THE APOSTLES. 115 

No doubt from a child he knew the Scriptures^ which 
ultimately made him wise unto salvation through faith 
in Christ Jesus^ as he says of Timothy. 

It is strange that Saul^ who was set apart by God 
"from his mother^s womb^^ to preach Christ among the 
heathens (Gal. i. 15, 16), though he alludes to his father, 
his sister, and his sister's son (Acts xxiii. 16), and other 
relatives (Rom. xvi. 11), should say nothing of his 
mother, who, if she lived, must have been his earliest 
and best teacher. Or did she die like Rachel, the mother 
of Benjamin ? Or did she live to see her son^s apostacy 
from the faith of the Pharisees, or did she die in the 
arms of the Saviour ? Or were his parents both dead 
at the time of his conversion ? Here both history and 
tradition are silent. 

Saul was born at Tarsus, a few years after the birth 
of Christ. Tarsus was the capital city of Cilicia in 
Asia Minor. It was situated on the river Cindus, about 
six miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It was a very 
rich and populous city, and had been noted for its great 
learning, in which it was said at one time not only to 
have equalled, but even surpassed, Athens and Alexan- 
dria. It was, therefore, as Paul says, "^no mean city.^^ 
It is a poor city now. 

We cannol positively determine how SauFs parents 
obtained their Roman citizenship, or how he himself 
was free-born, whether he had this privilege in common 



116 THE LIVES OF 

with all the citizens of Tarsus, or whether he inherited 
it as a peculiar honor of his own family. Tarsus had 
become a Roman province about sixty-two years before 
the birth of Christ, when Julius Caesar made it a free 
city. Then, probably, the family of Saul, for some 
cause unknown, were honored with the high privilege 
of Roman citizenship. Hence Paul Avas free-born. This 
honor could not have been imparted to any one low, 
either in birth or wealth. Whatever kindness the 
heathen rulers may have conferred upon them, they still 
observed the Mosaic law with great strictness ; for 
Saul plainly asserts that his father was a Pharisee, and 
that he, also, was brought up under the strict rules of 
that sect. 

§ 2. HIS HOME TRAINING AND TRADE. 

It is not positively known whether Saul received a 
classical education at Tarsus or not ; he had, however, 
in his native place the best opportunity of becoming early 
acquainted with the Greek language and nationality, 
which was a great help to him in after years. Cer- 
tain it is that the ground-work of his intellectual and 
moral training was Jewish. But he had also acquired 
some knowledge of Greek literature, probably at Tarsus or 
at Jerusalem. This is not only clear from his com- 
mand of the Greek language, but also proven from his 
frequent quotations, his dialectic ^kill, and the profound 



THE APOSTLES. 117 

insight into the nature and development of the heathen 
religion and philosophy."^ As a Hebrew, he en- 
joyed from his infancy the most thorough instruction, 
which every Israelite was in conscience bound to give to 
his children. This was especially necessary among 
those who lived far away from Palestine and the Holy 
City of their faith, being surrounded with the influence 
and worship of other gods. The Jews well knew that 
the holy principles of religion implanted in childhood 
could never be eradicated. After the fundamental prin- 
ciples of religion had been imparted, he, according to a 
Jewish custom, had to learn a trade. This w^as not 
solely designed for a livelihood, but also to counteract 
temptations to sensuality which are destructive to the 
higher spiritual life. 

It was a long-established custom among the Israel- 
ites, that every son, high or low, should learn a trade, 
for the Talmud says, ^^he that does not train his son to 
some peculiar occupation, is as bad as if he taught him 
to steal/^ It would be well indeed, if such a law were 
established and enforced in our own country. We 
would then not have near as many coxcombs, idlers and 
mischief-makers, or useless human flesh and blood as we 
have now. The parents of Saul thought it their duty, 
according to the fashion of their nation, not only to 



•^'St. Paul quotes from Aratus, Epimenides, and Meander, 
and was, no doubt, also familiar with Aeschylus, Sophocles and 
Euripides, as his writings clearly evince. 



118 THE LIVES OF 

train his heart and mind in religion and the higher pur- 
suits of a liberal education, but also to accustom his 
hands to some useful trade. And thus we learn from 
Acts xviii. 3, that Saul was a ^^tent maker/^ occupying 
the intervals of his study hours with that kind of work. 
This mode of life was adopted by the most eminent 
Jewish scholars, for the sake of avoiding sloth and idle- 
ness, more than for the sake of support. The Jews 
used to sum up the duties of parents in a sort of prov- 
erb, that "they should circumcise their son, redeem 
him; teach him the law and a trade, and look out a wife 
for him.^^ 

Tent-making was a common and extensive branch 
of business in the East, where these light edifices were 
in great demand. SauFs native province was also noted 
for a certain species of long-haired goats, the hair of 
which was woven into hair-cloth, and afterwards sewed 
together and made into tents. Many were employed in 
this kind of work in Cilicia, and such cloth was very 
durable and much used for the sails of vessels, for mili- 
tary tents, but especially for tents by the wandering 
Arabs. Saul's occupation or trade had been that of 
sewing this cloth together, and making it into a tent. 
This may also have suggested to his mind the many 
military figures and allusions which are scattered 
throughout his writings. 



THE APOSTLES. 119 

§ 3. HIS EDUCATION AT JERUSALEM. 
Saulj after having been endowed with the principles 
of the Jewish faith, and a reasonable education at home, 
was sent by his parents to Jerusalem. The educational 
maxim of the Jews was: ^^at five years let children 
begin the Scriptures ; at ten the Mishna;"^ at thirteen let 
them be subjects of the Law/^ At this age there was a 
ceremony, something like Christian confirmation. ^^The 
boy was then called a ^ Child of the Law;' and the 
father declared in the presence of the Jews that his son 
fully understood the Law^ ; and he w^as fully responsible 
for his sins.'' 

We may, therefore, reasonably suppose that Saul was 
betvreen ten and thirteen years of age, when his parents 
sent him to the Holy City, or else he could have hardly 
said that he was brought up in Jerusalem. The earthly 
Jerusalem must have been dear to him as the City of 
God, and also because the Rabbins said that the boun- 
dary line of Benjamin and Judah, the two faithful 
tribes, passed through the Temple. At Jerusalem was 
the seat of the great Jewish University. Here they 
gave instruction in Theology and the Law, by which 
this nation was to be taught and governed. There was 
no distinction between Theology and the Law, the whole 
Mosaic system was taught. Saul was, therefore, a stu- 

*The body of the Hebrew laws, traditions and explanations, 
or the book that contains them. 



120 THE LIVES OE 

dent of Theology and Law, and a hearer of the lectures 
of Gamaliel, the most renowned teacher of the Hebrew 
University at Jerusalem. At the feet of Gamaliel, Saul 
was brought up. (Acts xxii. 3.) It was the custom of 
the students to sit or lie down on the ground, or on 
mats, at the feet of their teacher, who sat by himself on 
a higher place. This Gamaliel was in high esteem 
among the people, and at the head of the strict school of 
Jewish Law and Scriptural learning, and was called 
" the glory of the Law.^^ Saul, who was gifted with 
fine talents, soon made himself master of the whole 
Rabbinical system, including jurisprudence as well as 
theology, and the various modes of interpreting the 
Scriptures, allegory, typology and tradition. It was by 
this thorough course of training, that he afterwards was 
so well qualified to oppose with such convincing powers, 
the errors of the Pharisees and Judaizers, and enabled 
to develope the doctrinal contents of Christianity more 
extensively and more profoundly than all the other 
Apostles. At this school some passage of the Old Tes- 
tament was taken up by the teacher and explained in 
all its various bearings and relations, the students " hear- 
ing them and asking them questions ;^' even so did the 
child Jesus, when, in his thirteenth year, his parents 
found him among the doctors in the Temple. Saul was 
naturally fiery, resolute, bold and persevering ; he em- 
braced with his whole soul whatever he thought to be 



THE APOSTLES. 121 

right; and thus was induced to run to extremes. He 
was a Pharisee of the strictest sort, one of the most ear- 
nest and noble of this sect. The new sect^ as the Chris- 
tians w^ere called, he not only regarded as fanatical and 
blasphemous against the Law^ but also as rebellious 
against the authority of Jehovah. 

The Jews had their most awful court of judicature, 
which sat from time to time, before which all matters of 
controversy had to be brought, especially such as referred 
to the most solemn questions of religion. This great 
Jewish Synagogue, or Sanhedrim, consisted of one hun- 
dred and twenty members, with the high priest as their 
head, who directed the administration of the Law, and 
regulated matters pertaining to worship, and enjoyed 
power as Senators in the government of the Jewish the- 
ocracy. 

Saul, as well as the Jews in general, regarded the 
persecution of Christians as a duty and an act well 
pleasing to God. They, therefore, dragged men and 
women before the Sanhedrhn, to have them tried and 
killed, or thrown into prison. Stephen, the faithful 
deacon and preacher in the Church of Jerusalem, was 
arrested and stood, like an angel in the beauty of ho- 
liness, before this Jewish court, charged with blasphemy 
against Moses and the Temple. The high priest, after 
hearing the accusation, solemnly called upon the priso- 
ner to say, " whether these things were so.^^ Stephen 



122 THE LIVES OF 

denied the charge^ but ran over the general history of 
the rise and progress of the Jewish faith, and the mani- 
festations of God among them; but at last fired up by 
the Holy Ghost, he broke out in soul-stirring ecstacy of 
holy wrath, charging them with being a stiff-necked peo- 
ple, always resisting the Holy Ghost, and persecuting 
the prophets and murdering the Holy One of God. 
The mob could endure it no longer ; they rushed upon 
him like wild beasts, and dragged him outside of the 
city and stoned him to death ; while he committed his 
spirit to God, and prayed: ^^Lord, lay not this sin to 
their charge.^' As the blood of the holy martyr was 
shed, Saul stood by, approving the deed, and keeping 
the clothes of them that slew him. (Acts vii. 58 — 60.) 

But storms of persecutions are only winds that fan 
the fire of faith in the Church, which carry the sparks 
of truth in distant directions. 

*'Flung to the heedless winds, 

Or on the waters cast, 
Their ashes shall be watch'd 

And gather' d at the last : 
And from that scatter' d dust. 

Around us and abroad, 
Shall spring a plenteous seed 

Of witnesses for God. 

Jesus has now receiv'd 

Their latest living breath : 
Yet vain is Satan's boast 

Of vict'ry in their death : 
Still, still, though dead, they speak. 

And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim 
To many a wak'ning land 

The one availing name."* 

^Lawge on Acts p. 145. 



THE APOSTLES. 123 

It is believed by some that when St. Stephen was 
condemned to death^ Saul was a member of the San- 
hedrim^ because in reference to Christians he says^ ^^I 
persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering 
into prisons both men and women'^ (Acts xxii. 4) ; ^^and 
when they were put to death, I gave my vote against 
thera.^^ (Acts xxvi. 10.) And no one could be a mem- 
ber of the Sanhedrim, unless he was a father of chil- 
dren. If this inference is well founded, Saul must have 
been married and a father of children. If so, it is 
probable that his wife and children did not long sur- 
vive him, or some notice would have been taken of them 
in his writings.* 

But where had Saul been during those years in which 
the foundations of Christianity were laid ? Where was 
he when the Son of Man was crucified on calvary and 
resigned his soul to God, and '' heaved that last sigh 
which dispelled the spirit of error, oppression and false- 
hood, and breathed truth, liberty and life over a reno- 
vated world ?'^t Some twenty years must have passed 
away since he, as a boy, had come to Jerusalem to be 
educated there. His education had long since been com- 
pleted ; and had he been at Jerusalem during our Lord^s 
public ministrations, he would have mentioned it, and 
would, no doubt, have been among his persecutors. It 

*Conybeare and Howson's Life of St. Paul, p. 72, note. 
-fLamertine's PUgrimage to the Holy Land, p. 117. 



124 THE LIVES OF 

is impossible to state where he had been during all this 
time. It is reasonable to suppose that, after he had 
finished his education at Jerusalem, he returned to his 
native city, and was there engaged in the study of Greek 
literature, the taste for which he likely imbibed from 
his old teacher Gamaliel. 

After the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, the Church 
at Jerusalem rapidly increased and soon numbered over 
five thousand souls, over and above the three thousand 
who were converted on the day of Pentecost, making in 
all over eight thousand souls. (Acts iv. 4.) This aroused 
in the bigoted Jews, who still desperately clung to the 
Old Testament Church, the bitter feeling of persecution. 
The Jews erroneously supposed, like the Roman Cath- 
olics at the time of the Reformation, that by this weapon 
they could destroy and subdue all opposition to their es- 
tablished religioa. 

This early persecution scattered the disciples, who 
fled from the Holy City, and thus brought the Gospel 
to many other places, fulfilling, therefore, the saying of 
our Lord to His disciples : '' Ye shall be witnesses unto 
me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. '^ (Acts i. 8.) 
But Saul, though taking a prominent part in the death 
of St. Stephen, yet his spirit of persecution was not sat- 
isfied, but only aroused ; that he so much the more de- 
sired to put down and root out this new faith. He en- 



THE APOSTLES. 125 

tered every house and synagogue, dragging men and 
woraen before the Sanhedrim, and when it came to a 
question of death, he gave his vote against them, and 
did his best to compel them to blasjjheme. Though he had 
suppressed Christianity in a great measure in Jerusalem, 
yet had it spread and grown in new places. (Acts 
viii.4.) Saul even went to the High Priest and pro- 
cured from him full power to j^i'osecute and arrest all 
Christians wherever found. Thus provided, we soon 
find the persecuting Saul on his way to Damascus, 
'' breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the 
disciples of the Lord.^^ Being exceedingly mad against 
them, he persecuted them even unto strange cities. The 
great Sanhedrim claimed over the Jews in foreign cities 
the same power, in religious questions, which they exer- 
cised at Jerusalem. 

The eTews in Damascus were very numerous, and 
'many Christians having fled there on account of the 
persecutions at Jerusalem, Saul determined to follow 
and arrest them. But while on his way, God^s gracious 
providence arrested him in his mad career, and soon his 
whole course of life is changed. The preaching of the 
Gospel was not to be confined to one race, but was to be 
extended to all nations for the obedience of faith. It, 
therefore, pleased God to raise up Saul of Tarsus as a 
new instrument. He was converted by the vision of 
Christ in glory, and sent by Him to Damascus^ thex^e to 



126 THE LIVES OF 

be told wliat he must do. "The summit of apostacy 
was, for him, the turning-point towards salvation." 

§ 4. SAUL'S CONVERSION. 

Among the Jews in Damascus were a number of 
Christians ; some, probably, became such by the preach- 
ing of the Apostles on the great festival of Pentecost, 
and others fled there to escape persecution at Jerusalem. 
Saul, raging for the destruction of these innocent Chris- 
tian men and women, Avas about to fly upon them like 
a savage beast, furnished with letters and a commis- 
sion of power from the Jewish High Priest. A false 
or perverted religion is ahvays blood thirsty, but the 
true Church always suffers persecution. 

The city of Damascus was about one hundred and 
thirty-six miles north of Jerusalem, and required about 
six days' travelling to reach it, yet this did not deter 
from the hazardous undertaking such a zealous Pharisee 
as Saul was. With a few companions he set out on his 
mission of destruction, but what thoughts filled his 
mind as he was pursuing this eventful journey against 
the destined victims of his cruelty! Might not that 
faith against which he w^as fighting, and which St. 
Stephen professed with his dying breath, be true ? No 
doubt while he w^as on the w^ay some serious thoughts, 
perhaps produced by the sermon of St. Stephen, or by 
his dying prayer, may have earnestly filled his mind, 



THE APOSTLES. 127 

especially as he was drawing near the scene of his long- 
planned cruelty. But, as on the last day of his weary 
journey, he came nigh unto the beautiful city at noon, 
the great event took place, which was to revolutionize 
and change his whole coui-se of life. For all of a sud- 
den he and his companions saw a great light, more 
dazzling than the sun, by which they were all struck to 
the earth. While thus fallen, he alone understandingly 
heard a voice, in the Hebrew tongue, saying, ^^Saul ! Saul ! 
why persecutest thou me ? It is hard for thee to kick 
against the pricks.^' Saul replied, ^^Who art thou, 
Lord?'^ The Lord^s answer was: ^^I am Jesus, whom 
thou persecutest.^^ I have admonished thee by the 
word of my truth, by the death of my saints, by the 
voice of thy conscience. Struggle no more against con- 
viction, ^Mest a W'Orse thing come unto thee.'^ ^^But 
arise and stand upon thy feet; for to this end have I 
appeared unto thee, to ordain thee a minister and a wit- 
ness of both those things w^hich thou hast, and of those 
things wherein I shall appear unto thee. And thee 
have I chosen from the house of Israel, and from 
among the Gentiles; unto whom now^ I send thee, to 
open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God; that they 
may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance 
among the sanctified, by faith in me.^^ (Acts xxvi. 15 — 
18.) Saul, trembling and astonished, said, ^'Lord, what 



128 THE LIVES OF 

wilt thou that I should do?'^ In this raiment of light, 
Saul saw tht; glorified Saviour, who answered him, 
saying, ^^ Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be 
told thee what thou must do/^ The men that were 
" with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing 
no man !'^ His former light, in which he fancied him- 
self able to guide everybody else, was now entirely ex- 
tinguished. The commissioned minister of wrath, now 
moved, distressed, humbled, darkened, trembling, and 
horror-struck, had to be led like a child by the 
hand into the city. The brilliancy of the vision had 
made him blind. In this benighted condition he re- 
mained in Damascus at the house of Judas, to which he 
was led, for three days, fasting and praying for a higher 
light of grace and faith. 

While in this wretched state of mind he could have 
no communion with Christians, for they all knew the 
object of his coming, and had been greatly terrified with 
the news of his approach. The unconverted Jews could 
have no sympathy with his condition of mind. In this 
miserable condition the conflict of SauFs feelings was so 
great, and his remorse so piercing and so deep, that dur- 
ing this time of darkness he neither ate nor drank. He 
prayed and fasted in silence. The recollections of his 
early years, the Old Testament Scriptures, which he had 
never understood, his cruelty and violence, the memory 
of the last looks of Stephen^ all these must have 



THE APOSTLES. 129 

crowded into his mind, and made the three days equal 
to long years of repentance. And most of all the feel- 
ing suggested by Christ's expostulation : " Why perse- 
cutest thou me f^ 

The Lord looks upon every persecution of His disci- 
ples, by reason of their life-union with Him, as a perse- 
cution of Himself. Amid these birth-throes of the 
new life, he no doubt felt the whole misery of the natu- 
ral man, the intolerable bondage of the legal stand- 
point, that in the anguish of his soul he cried out: ^^O 
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death?'' During this preparation of 
^^ godly sorrow," he was inwardly comforted of ap- 
proaching help, and directed by a vision to the man, 
who would become an instrument to heal him in both 
body and soul, and bring him into fraternal union with 
the Church. 

During the pangs of this new birth, the Lord also 
appeared and prepared Ananias, an esteemed disciple of 
Damascus, by a vision, as he had Peter and Cornelius, 
and directed him to go to the house of Judas, where he 
was lodged, and restore the praying Saul to his bodily 
sight. Ananias however mistrusted and objected on ac- 
count of the injury Saul had done to the saints at Jeru- 
salem. The Lord assured him that he was a chosen 
vessel of mercy, who should bear His name before the 
Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. When 



130 THE LIV^ES OF 

Ananias came to Saul, he laid his hands upon him, and 
said, '^ Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared 
unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that 
thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the 
Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes 
as it had been scales; and he received his sight forth- 
with, and looked upon him. And Ananias said, " The 
God of our Fathers hath ordained thee to know His will, 
and to behold the Just One, and to hear the voice of His 
mouth. For thou shalt be His witness to all the ivorld oj 
what thou hast seen and heard. And now, why dost thou 
delay f Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, 
Galling on the name of the Lord,^^ (Acts xxii. 12 — 16.) 
Saul now not only received his sight, but was baptized 
and received the remission of sin and the gift of the 
Holy Ghost, as well as the assurance that he was God^s 
chosen vessel, who should testify of His name among 
Jews and Gentiles, and be honored with many sufferings 
for His name's sake. 

After having eaten and being strengthened, he was 
admitted into the fellowship of the disciples of Jesus. 
He was ^^ not disobedient to the heavenly vision," but 
straightway preached in the synagogues that Jesus was 
the Son of God, and "showed unto them that they 
should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for 
repentance.'' Damascus was the first spot wherein Saul 
sowed the seeds of that faith which has since changed 



THE APOSTLES. 131 

the aspect of the world. His Pharisaic learning was now 
used to uphold the cause he had come to destroy. The 
Jews were amazed. They knew what a persecutor he 
was at Jerusalem^ and why he came to Damascus. And 
now they see him contradicting his whole previous life, 
and utterly discarding that " commission of the High 
Priest/^ which had been the authority of his journey to 
Damascus. They even exclaimed^ " Is not this he who 
destroyed them that call on this name in Jerusalem, and 
came hither, with the very same purpose of taking them 
bound to the Sanhedrim for punishment?'' 

In the conversion or rather the regeneration of Paul 
comes that strange doctrine again, which was so beauti- 
fully brought out in Christ's conversation with Nico- 
demus, and by Peter on the day of Pentecost, at the 
outpouring of the Holy Ghost; namely, that the door 
of entrance into the spiritual kingdom of God is by 
spiritual regeneration. The old sacraments of the law 
had died out, and the new sacrament, and the new life, 
so long foreshadowed in thg Old Testament, was now in 
the Son of God a living and fruit- bearing reality, mani- 
festing itself in God's people. Xicodemus, at first, 
could only see a learned Raobi in the Son of Mary, and 
not the Son of God. And Saul, the bigoted Pharisee, 
could see nothing but an imposter in Christ, but after 
his spiritual regeneraticm, he acknowledged him to be 
the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. And 



132 THK LIVES OF 

immediately he began to preach Christ and Him cruci- 
fied, as the only hope of the world, because he loved his 
brethren. ^^ Religion in its very nature is love. It 
starts in this character from God as love to man, and 
returns again in the form of human love to its source; a 
circling stream from God to God.^^* 

The new-born Saul united with the Christians; now 
the wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down 
with the kid* Those who choose God for their guide and 
friend, will also take his people for their people. SauPs 
teaching at Damascus could not have lasted long. The 
Jews, after they recovered from the first surprise, would 
soon have had a new commissioner from Jerusalem with 
power to seize and punish such a faithless apostate. The 
conversion of Saul, according to the most reliable chrono- 
logical authority, took place A. D. 37. 

§ 5. DAMASCUS. 

Damascus, the eye of the East, said to be the old- 
est city in the world, was also one of the most delightful 
places on earth. It was the capital city of the kings of 
Syria. The street called Straight, where Saul dwelt in 
his blindness, is entered by the road from Jerusalem, 
and is as stright as an arrow, a mile long, broad and 
well paved. This city was renowned for its beautiful 
rivers, Abana and Pharpar; every dw^elling had its 
*Dr. Ullmann. 



THE APOSTLES. 133 

fountain^ the city being refreshed by the murmuring 
streams and thousand fountains of its '^ golden flowing 
river/^ which rose before the beholder in incomparable 
beauty. It was surrounded by a fruitful and delightful 
country plain of nearly eighty miles in circumference, 
and the lands for four miles around the city had been 
formed into beautiful gardens, planted full of fruit trees 
and flowers. The Turks have a tradition that when 
their prophet Mahomet, approaching Damascus, beheld 
the beauty and the delightful aspect of the city, he was 
unwilling to tempt his frailty by going further, but in- 
stantly departed with this remark : " There is but one 
paradise for man, and for my part, I am resolved not 
to take mine in this world/^ How much better it 
would be for thousands if they would seek their para- 
dise in heaven, instead of seeking and taking it on 
earth. It is also supposed by some that Abel was mur- 
dered here. This fact is alluded to by Shakespeare.* 

§ 6. SAUL IN ARABIA. 

Saul, after having had a few days intercourse with 
the Christians in Damascus, went into the desert of 
Arabia. We cannot tell what particular place is meant 
by the wilderness of Arabia, whether that district near 
Damascus, or Arabia Petra, or the region near the Red 
Sea among those mountains which Moses and Elijah 
-King Henry VI. 1. 3. 



134 THE LIVES OF 

had trodden before him. In this desert he spent three 
years^ (Gal. i. 17 — 18) less the time he spent in preach- 
ing at Damascus. While Saul is in Arabia, he is either 
engaged in preaching the Gospel in obscurity, or prepa- 
ring himself more fully ^^to work among the Gentiles 
by his ministry.'^ We think it quite natural, that Saul 
spent these three years in the wilderness, and in this re- 
spect followed the example of Moses, Elijah, and of the 
Saviour himself, who, after His baptism, was led by the 
Spirit into the wilderness. After such powerful convic- 
tions, and renovations of his nature, his mind, no 
doubt, yearned for solitude. His whole time while in 
Arabia was, doubtless, spent in meditation, prayer, and 
private study of the Holy Scriptures, which was neces- 
sary as a substitute for the three years of personal inter- 
course with the Lord, enjoyed by the other Apostles. 
He w^as, no doubt, during this time, the object of special 
revelations from Christ, which helped him to a deeper 
insight into the mysteries of salvation, and fitted him 
better for the high and holy office, to which God had 
so wonderfully called him. 

There is something peculiar in Saul's conversion, 
which we, perhaps, can never fully comprehend. His 
call is very abrupt, and his preparation to the Apostle- 
ship and Christian ministry is certainly different from 
that of all others, and may be called an eccleciastical 
irregularity. After these three years of private prepa- 



THE APOSTLES. 135 

ration in Arabia^ he returned again to Damascus, where 
he preached the Gospel to the Jews, and boldly con- 
fessed in their synagogues, before the most daring ene- 
mies of Christ, that Jesus was the Son of God, and the 
Saviour of the world. But as Saul grew each day in 
the knowledge and faith of the Christian doctrine, he 
became too strong in argument for the most skillful de- 
fenders of the Jewish faith, and utterly confounded them 
with his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah. This he 
did for many days, until the stubborn Jews, provoked 
to the highest degree, determined to put him to death as 
a renegade from the faith. 

In order to please the murderous Jews, the Governor 
appointed by Aretas, king of Arabia, placed the city 
garrison at the gates of Damascus, and watched day and 
night to apprehend and kill Saul at his first out-going. 
But the Christian friends of Saul, learning his danger, 
determined to save him, and thus one night put the 
Apostle in a basket, and let him down from the win- 
dow of a house near the wall of the city, while the spite- 
ful Jews, with their Governor and his city guard, w^ere 
fruitlessly watching the gates to wreak their vengeance 
on this dangerous convert. (2 Cor. xi. 32, 33.) 



136 THE LIVES OF 

§ 7. SAUUS FUGITIVE LIFE. 
Saul now set his face towards Jerusalem^ in order to 
become acquainted with Peter^ the chief of the Twelve, 
who had long been a constant companion of the Lord, 
but also, perhaps, that he might make know n in the 
halls of those who had sent him forth in deeds of blood, 
that their commission had been reversed by the Father 
of Spirits, who had now fully equipped him, their des- 
tined minister of wrath, to be ^^a chosen instrument of 
mercy,^^ to nations who had never yet heard of IsraeFs 
God. Arriving at Jerusalem, from whence three years 
before he had set out with a persecuting spirit, he now 
"essayed to join himself to the disciples ; but they were 
all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disci- 
ple/^ They not only refused to receive him, but they 
would not even associate with him in a friendly and fa- 
miliar manner, knowing him only from his previous 
character as a persecutor of the holy Stephen. They 
were greatly afraid of him, and regarded this only as a 
new trick to involve them in difficulties from which they 
formerly escaped. Being cast out as a hypocrite by the 
disciples, and rejected as a renegade by his own people, 
he must have been at a loss where to go. Fortunately 
at last, however, he found Barnabas, a former acquaint- 
ance of his, who recognized him as a regenerated and 
sanctified person, and brought him to Peter and James, 
the brother of the Lord. Saul had to fight against the 



THE APOSTLES. 137 

Jews during his entire life. They hated him because 
he was formerly such an able and bigoted Pharisee and 
persecutor of the Christians^ who had now become the 
most powerful and destructive opponent of Judaism. 

"The deadliest antagonist of Judaic exclusiveness 
was by birth a Hebrew of the Hebrews. The dealer of 
the death- wound to the spirit of Pharisaism was a 
Pharisee^ a son of a Pharisee, who had been brought up 
from his youth at Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel ; 
had been taught according to the perfect manner of the 
law, of the fathers ; had lived after the most strict sect 
of the Jewish service.^' 

With Peter he abode for fifteen days, " and he spake 
boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed 
against the Grecians,^^ doubtless with some of the very 
same persons among whom he formerly stood as an op- 
poser of the same faith. This, as might be expected, 
soon aroused their vindictive hatred against him, as a vile 
renegade of the old Jewish faith, that they sought to 
kill him. He, no doubt, would have shared Stephen's 
fate, had not the Lord Jesus appeared and warned him 
in a vision, saying, "Make haste and get thee quickly 
out of Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testimony 
concerning me.^' When he still hesitated to obey the 
command, the injunction was more peremptory than be- 
fore: "Depart; for I will send ttiee far hence unto the 
Gentiles.^^ This is the third time that the Lord declared . 



138 THE LIVES OF 

unto him that his field of labor was among the Gentiles. 

Upon this peremptory command, the brethren provided 

means for his escape, and took him privately to Cesaria, 

and sent him forth to Tarsus, his native city. We do 

not think that this was his first visit to Tarsus, as some 

erroneously suppose, since he departed from his father's 

house to go to Jerusalem as a student of theology and 

law. 

§ 8. SAUL AT TARSUS. 

He had, no doubt, been living at Tarsus, after his 
education at Jerusalem had been completed, and quite 
likely was engaged in the study of Greek literature. 
But now he comes again, but how changed! Before he 
was not only a Jew, but also a strict Pharisee. Now he 
is not only a Christian, but also an Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles. How different were now the objects, aims and 
ends of his being, from what they were when he, as a 
student, set out from or returned to his native city. 
The world not only is different to the individual, after 
he is truly converted to God, but his thoughts and aims 
in life are also differently directed. Another world, as 
it were, lies open before him in grandeur and majesty, 
which he recognized not before; everywhere he sees the 
footprints of Him, who is the beginning and the end of 
all things. 

Saul now remained in Tarsus, for about three years, 
where he was probably engaged in preaching the Gos- 



THE APOSTLES. 139 

pel to Jew and Gentile. For we find congregations 
that were in existence both in Syria and Cilicia^ before 
he made his second missionary tour through Asia 
Minor, though he had not visited this region during his 
first missionary journey. Saul had probably preached 
in Syria and Cilicia, making Tarsus the centre of his 
operations, before he ever came to Antioch, and likely 
had suffered all the hardships which he mentions in 
2 Cor. xi. 24 — 28, of which we have no account after- 
wards. While here in Tarsus, his native place, Peter, 
the Apostolic chief, was made the first minister of grace 
to the Gentiles, by his divine vision and the conversion 
of Cornelius. (Acts x.) It was far better that Peter, 
who was especially commissioned as the keeper of the 
keys of heaven, and by birth a Jew, should open the 
way for the calling of the Gentiles, than that Saul should 
have done this, who, by his birth and partial education 
in a Grecian city, might have had acquired such famili- 
arity with Grecian usages, as to be reasonably liable to 
suspicion for introducing innovations favorable to the 
heathens. But after the conversion of Cornelius, the 
way was fully opened for the extension of the Gospel to 
the heathen world. The Apostles at Jerusalem, hearing 
the success of the Gospel at Antioch, which some, who 
had fled from Jerusalem during the time of Stephen's 
persecution, had successfully preached there, immedi- 
ately sent Barnabas, as formerly Peter and John were 



140 THE LIVES OF 

sent to Samaria^ to confirm the good work. Barnabas 
having come to Antioch, and seeing the grace of Go3, 
rejoiced in his heart at the success of the Gospel, and 
exhorted all to cling to the Saviour whom they had 
found. " Feeling the great importance of the place, he 
bethought himself of his friend Saul, who was especially 
qualified fur this important field. He then left Antioch 
and went over to Tarsus, and invited Saul to this great 
and promising missionary field, who was at once ready 
and willing to undertake the proposed Apostolic duty, 
and came with him to Antioch. 

§ 9. SAUL AT ANTIOCH. 

Antioch was a fine city in Syria, about forty-one 
miles by the river Orontes, and sixteen and one-half 
miles overland from the sea-port of the fortified city 
Seleucia, where Saul and Barnabas afterwards took ship 
as they started on their first missionary tour. The city 
was about four miles long, and surrounded by a wall. 
It was called the Heathen Queen and Metropolis of the 
East. It w^as the royal seat of the kings of Syria, and 
for power and dignity little inferior to Seleucia or Al- 
exandria. The inhabitants were celebrated for their 
luxury and licentiousness. It was also the seat of the 
Roman Governors. Many wealthy and luxuriant Ro- 
mans were attracted to this city on account of its beau- 
tiful climate. But the mass of the people were a worth- 



THE APOSTLES. 141 

less rabble of Greeks and Orientals. The theatre was 
the great place of amusement. Here, also, was the fa- 
mous temple of Daphne with its statue of A polios, • 
which had its many votaries of vice. There was hardly 
a city in the East more famous for vice, corruption and 
superstition than Antioch. 

During the energetic labors of Saul and Barnabas 
the disciples became very numerous in this city. Here 
they were first called Christians, This title they re- 
ceived from the heathens. Before they were called ^Mis- 
ciples,^^ ^^believers,^^ ^^men of the Church,'' or ^^ saints.'' 
Here Saul labored for at least one year, until he and 
Barnabas were sent by the Church of Antioch with a 
collection for the poor Christians at Jerusalem, on ac- 
count of a famine prevailing there, which had been 
prophesied by Agabus A. D. 44. 

About the time when these messengers of alms came 
to Jerusalem, Herod Agrippa was severely persecuting 
the Christians. The Apostle James had been murdered, 
and Peter was imprisoned and bound with two chains. 
Besides the soldiers who watched his sleep, guards were 
placed before the door of the prison. But the angel of 
the Lord freed him from his chains, and delivered him 
from his imprisonment. Soon after the angel of the 
Lord suddenly smote Herod, the persecutor of Christi- 
ans, that not long afterward he died a horrible death, of 
a loathsome disease. (Acts xii. 23.) This was about the 
year 44 or 45. 



142 THE LIVES OF 

Saul and Barnabas may have been eye-witnesses of 
these scenes, and may have been present at the prayer 
meeting at the house of Mary, the mother of Mark and 
kinswoman of Barnabas, when Peter was liberated from 
prison by the angel. At any rate, they must have heard 
the death of Agrippa discussed, and must have recog- 
nized in it a fresh proof of the immediate punishment 
of God. 

Saul and Barnabas, after having despatched the 
business they were sent upon, returned again to Antioch, 
bringing with them John Mark. Soon after their re- 
turn from Jerusalem, the Christian community at An- 
tioch was engaged in one united act of prayer and fast- 
ing. ^^Now there were in the Church that was at An- 
tioch, certain prophets and teachers ; as Barnabas, and 
Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene^ 
and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod 
the tetrarch,and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, 
and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, '' Separate me now Bar- 
nabas and Saul for the work wliereunto I have called 
them.^^ ^^ How this revelation was made, Avhether by 
the mouth of some of the prophets who were present, or 
by the impulse of a simultaneous and general inspira- 
tion,'^ and if a particular rank was pointed out, is not 
precisely indicated. Paul is now about to enter upon 
the particular work for which he had been especially 
fitted and commissioned at his conversion — ^Ho open the 



THE APOSTLES. 143 

eyes of the Gentiles/^ — ^^to turn them from darkness to 
light, and from the dominion of satan unto God/^ His 
brethren in the ministry understanding the nature of 
the call, had another religious meeting of fasting and 
prayer, and with that simple ceremony of ordination sanc- 
tified them for the great missionary work, by the laying 
on of hands, and invoked God's blessing upon them, bid 
them farewell, ^^and sent them away.'' 

§ 10. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 

Several great and important facts in the history of 
the world must, however, not be forgotten, before we 
proceed further with our history. The Greek language, 
at the time of the introduction of Christianity into the 
world, had attained its highest perfection. It is, un- 
doubtedly, the most beautiful, rich, and harmonious lan- 
guage ever spoken or written. Christianity has con- 
ferred the highest honor upon it by selecting it as the 
silver dish in which the golden apple of the Gospel 
should be preserved for all generations. Alexander the 
Great, who, as an instrument in the hands of Provi- 
dence, had brought the whole civilized world under his 
dominion, also planted Greek colonies in the East, and 
thus spread the Greek language. By reason of the 
beauty and perfection of the Greek language, and the 
intrinsic value of Greek literature, and its influence upon 
the Roman mind, this language had, before the birth of 



144 THE LIVES OF 

Christ, become the language of the whole civilized world. 
And thus, providentially, the way was opened every- 
where for the introduction of the Gospel. 

The Greek mind not only by this outward excel- 
lence made a path for Christianity, but also by its cul- 
ture. In her culture we have man set forth in his 
natural state of corruption and depravity, without being 
touched by the Gospel. In worship the Greeks, how- 
ever, have superceded all other nations. But her gods 
are only deified human heroes, to whom are ascribed all 
the passions of anger, jealously and lust, which we find 
in unsanctified human nature. But, nevertheless, in her 
worship she developed the intuitional longing of the 
mind after the invisible Creator, but could not satisfy it. 

Last, but not least, is the one great fact, which 
must not be omitted here, namely, that throughout a 
longitudinal line of four thousand miles, within a cir- 
cuit of ten thousand, unbroken peace and prosperity^ 
reigned throughout the vast Roman Empire, which held 
undisputed sway over the whole civilized world. By 
the above mentioned facts, the Lord in His Providence 
had prepared the world for the reception of Christianity. 
This is beautifully described by Milton, singing of the 
universal peace which attended the coming ot the 
Messiah : 

" No war or battle sound 
Was heard the world around ; 



THE APOSTLES. 145 



The idle spear and shield were high uphung ; 

The hooked chariot stood^ 
Unstained with hostile bloody 

The trumpet spake not to the armed throng 
And kings sat still, with awful eye, 

As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by/^ 



10 



146 THE T.IVE8 OF 



CHAPTER II. 



§ 1. PAULAS FIRST MISSIONARY TOUR. 

This then being the condition of the world, Paul, 
after having been solemnly consecrated by the laying on 
of hands, as the great Apostle of the Gentiles, accom- • 
panied by Barnabas, and John Mark, now set out on 
his first great missionary journey by the authority of the 
Christian Church at Antioch, and the still higher au- 
thority of the Holy Ghost. Saul always regarded the 
Church at Antioch as the mother and centre of the 
Gentile missions. They went from Antioch to Seleucia, 
a fortified city of Syria, which was situated on the sea- 
coast, a little north of the river Orontes. It w^as called 
Seleucia ad mare, to distinguish it from other cities 
in Syria of the same name. Here they took ship and 
sailed to Cyprus, the native place of Barnabas. 

§ 2. PAUL AT CYPRUS. 

Cyprus was south of Asia Minor. This was an 
island in the Mediterranean Sea, situated between Ci- 
licia and Syria. Pliny says, that it received the name 
of Cyprus from the flower of the Cyprus-trees growing 
there. This island was anciently celebrated for the 



THE APOSTLES. 147 

profligacy of its inhabitants, whose principal deity was 
the impure goddess, Venus. Paul and Barnabas, with 
their companion Mark, first landed in its chief city, 
Salamis, on the south-east side of the island. In Salarais 
they found the Jews very numerous. This is indicated 
by the fact that the city had several synagogues, while 
other places had but one. Here they first preached the 
Gospel in the synagogues of the Jews, but we are not 
told how long they remained, or with what success they 
labored. From this city they went about one hundred 
miles further south and came to Paphos, the metropolis 
of the island, and residence of the Roman pro-consul. 
This city was also memorable for the impure worship 
paid to Venus, the tutelar deity of the island. The 
Jews dwelt here in great numbers. But now only 
twenty or thirty miserable huts are seen of all that 
remains of this once most distinguished city of Cyprus. 
At Paphos they met a sorcerer, a false prophet, a 
Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, who, by his tricks, had 
gained great renown in that region, and sought to keep 
the pro-consul from the faith when he ^^ desired to hear 
the word of God,'^ and opposed them all he could. But 
Saul, full of the Holy Ghost, denounced this miserable 
fellow as a child of the devil ; an enemy of all right- 
eousness ; whom the Lord immediately struck with 
blindness for a season, as a punishment for his wicked 
interference, that he had to be led by the baud like a 



148 THE LIVES OF 

child. This miraculous punishment of the sorcerer de- 
cided the conversion of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus. 
(Acts xiii. 9—12.) 

From henceforth Saul goes by the name of Paul. 
Why he now assumes the name of Paul, which in Greek 
and Latin signifies " little," whether from the conver- 
sion of the Proconsul, which is hardly probable, or on 
account of his littleness in stature, or because with the 
name of Saul of Tarsus was connected the reproach of 
persecution, or more properly, perhaps, because he now 
devoted his life more especially to the Gentile missions, 
and therefore assumed the Gentile name of Paul. 
Whatever may have been the reason, "i}\e heathen 
name rises to the surface at the moment when St. Paul 
visibly enters on his office as the Apostle of the heathens. 
The Roman name is stereotyped at the moment when 
he converts the Roman governor. And the place where 
this occurs is Paphos, the favorite sanctuary of a 
shameful idolatry." We also see that Paul from hence- 
forth fully entered upon his Gentile mission and takes 
the lead, while Barnabas steps more into the back- 
ground. 

The second part of the Acts of the Apostles is gen- 
erally reckoned to commence with the thirteenth chapter. 
St. Paul now begins to appenr as the principal character 
among the propagators of the Gospel. The thirteenth 
and fourteenth chapters of the Acts describe their first 



THE APOSTLES. 149 

missionary journey step by step, and the course which 
they took ; and relate their success in Cyprus and Asia 
Minor as the first missionaries to the heathen world. 

From Cyprus they came to Perga, in Asia Minor, a 
stronghold of heathenism. Perga was a city in Pam- 
phylia, about two hundred miles northwest of Paphos. 
It was not a sea-port, but stood on the west bank of the 
river Cestrus, about eight miles from the sea. Near the 
town, on some rising ground, stood a very famous tem- 
ple of Diana, where every year a great religious assem- 
bly gathered to celebrate the worship of this great Asian 
goddess. At this place it is only mentioned that John 
Mark left them, and returned to Jerusalem. Either his 
heart failed him as he looked from Perga to the Gentile 
mountains, which were nearly two miles high, and saw 
the difficulties and dangers to be encountered, or as 
Matthew Henry rather severely remarks: ^^ Either be- 
cause he did not like the work, or he wanted to go and 
see his mother.'^ One thing, however, is certain, he 
could not resolve to continue persevering in journeys 
where he would often be in perils of robbers by sea and 
land. He left them to return, while they passed through 
Pamphylia and came to Antioch in Pisidia. 



160 THE LIVES OP 

§ 3. PAUL AT ANTTOCH IN PISIDIA. 

Pisidia was the capital city of the province of Pi- 
sidia in Asia Minor. It was an important city^ about 
eight miles north of Perga. Here they remained over 
the Sabbath and went into the synagogue^ where it was 
the custom to read every Sabbath a portion of the law 
and the prophets to the people. When they entered the 
building, according to Jewish custom^ the four-cornered 
Talliih was first placed like a veil over their heads^ or 
like a scarf over their shoulders. It must also be re- 
membered that in these synagogues they had no regular 
preacher, the minister being only a sort of reader, who 
conducted the worship as arranged for each Sabbath. 
When these regular duties were over, the custom was to 
invite a discourse from any one present qualified to ad- 
dress the people. On this day the reader noticing two 
grave and intelligent looking persons among the wor- 
shippers, sent word to them, saying : ^^ Brethren ! if you 
have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.^' 
Paul now arose and addressed the meeting (Acts xiii.), 
and many Jews and Gentiles believed, and earnestly re- 
quested that their words might be repeated to them on 
the following Sabbath. They, no doubt, also instructed 
during the week those ready to hear in private and at 
their houses, but the following Sabbath the whole city 
came to the synagogue to hear the word of God. But 
when the Jews saw this, they were filled with envy. 



THE APOSTLES. 151 

They could not endure the idea that heathens should be 
freely admitted to the same religious privileges with 
themselves. .The Jews, as God's covenant people, al- 
ways prided themselves upon their righteousness and 
holiness, regarding others with arrogant contempt, as 
not worthy of receiving equal privileges with themselves 
in the kingdom of grace. It was the scorn and indig- 
nation of the elder brother against the returning prodi- 
gal, and his refusal to enjoy privileges which hence- 
forth must be shared with others. This was especially 
their sin in the time of Christ and His Apostles ; though 
they had lost the very life and spirit of their religion, 
yet they prided themselves upon its outward form. The 
Jews now made an uproar, opposed and contradicted 
Paul and blasphemed, whereupon the Apostle declared 
the offer of salvation was first to the Jews, but since 
they rejected it and judged themselves unworthy of 
everlasting life, they would now turn to the Gentiles. 
The Greeks hearing this rejoiced, and many believed to 
their everlasting salvation. But the opposition in- 
creased, in proportion to the progress of faith, until 
finally the Jews succeeded in stirring up the honorable 
women and the aristocracy of the city, and thus raised a 
persecution and drove both Paul and Barnabas from the 
city. But they, following the divine injunction, say- 
ing, " AVhosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, 
when ye depart thence, shake oif the dust from your 



152 THE LIVES OF 

feet for a testimony against them. Verily, I say unto 
you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah 
in the day of judgment, than for that city/^ They now 
came to Iconium. 

§ 4. ICONIUM. 

Iconium was the capital and chief city of Lycaonia, 
a place of considerable importance. Here were many 
Jews. The place is now called Cogni, and has about 
eighty thousand inhabitants, principally Turks. It lies 
between mountains which rise to the regions of perpet- 
ual snow. It is situated on the lake Trogilis, about one 
hundred and twenty miles inland from the Mediterra- 
nean Sea. Here they both preached in the synagogue, 
and many Jews and Gentiles believed. Here they re- 
mained a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who 
granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 
But at last the multitude of the city became divided, a 
part held with the bigoted Jews, and a part with the 
Apostles. When they were in danger of being 'stoned, 
they fled into Lystra and Derbe, cities of the same 
province, where they preached the Gospel. 

§ 5. PAUL AT LYSTRA. 

The city of Lystra was supposed to be under the 
protection of the god Jupiter, whose companion was 
Mercury. In front of the city stood the temple of Ju- 
piter. These people had a tradition that these gods had 



THE APOSTLES. 153 

sometimes visited their city in person. Here Paul 
healed a lame man, which gave rise to such an excite- 
ment among these heathens, that they regarded them as 
gods, and called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul llercury, 
because Paul was the chief speaker, and therefore sup- 
posed to be the companion of Jupiter. 

We may Avell believe that there was something ma- 
jestic and divine in the personal appearance of Paul 
when he fixed his penetrating glance upon that cripple, 
and saw, by the power of the Divine Spirit, into the 
very secrets of his soul, and perceived " that he had 
faith to be saved." Then Paul uttered, in a loud voice, 
before his idolatrous audience, these words to the crip- 
ple, saying, ^^ Stand upright on thy feet." Scarcely had 
the words been spoken, when the cripple, who had never 
walked from his mother's womb, sprang upon his feet 
and walked. (Acts xiv. 10.) These people, no doubt 
ignorant and superstitious heathens, according to their 
native tradition, cried out that the gods had again vis- 
ited them '' in the likeness of men." Then the priests 
of Jupiter came with oxen and garlands unto the gates 
of the city, and would have sacrificed them to Paul and 
Barnabas, when the missionaries, horror stricken at this 
degrading exhibition of their idolatrous spirit, ran 
among the people, rending their clothes in the signifi- 
cant gesture of true Orientals, and cried out with great 
earnestness, '' Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also 



154 THE LIVES OF 

are men of like passions with you ; and we are come to 
preach to you tlie Glad Tidin^s^ that you may turn from 
these vain idols to the living God, who made the heav- 
ens, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are 
therein. For in the generations that are past. He suf- 
fered all the nations of the Gentiles to walk in their own 
ways. Nevertheless He left not Himself without wit- 
ness, in that He blessed- you, and gave you rain from 
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with 
food and gladness.^^; (Acts xiv. 14 — 17.) It was with 
difficulty that they restrained these ignorant heathens 
from offering sacrifice unto them. The crowd at last 
reluctantly retired, and led their victims away without 
offering them in sacrifice to the missionaries. 

About this time certain Jews from Antioch and Ico- 
nium came to Lystra, ^yho had been hunting, like 
hounds, on the track of the missionaries, and told their 
abusive lies to the people about the character of these 
two strange travellers. They would say that this cripple 
was not healed by Divine power, " but by some dia- 
bolic magic ; as once they had said at Jerusalem, that 
He who came ^to destroy the works of the Devil,^ cast 
out devils ^ by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.'" 
These ignorant and fickle-minded Lystrians were soon 
persuaded, and their minds changed from reverence to 
such bitter hatred, that they commenced to stone these 
messengers of peace. This they tried to do at Iconium, 



THE APOSTLES. 155 

but failed. Paul and Barnabas were now pelted with 
stones through the city^ till at last Paul was dragged 
through the city gate^ and cast outside the walls, under 
the belief that he was dead. But scarcely had the mob 
dispersed^ when he arose again, as if by a sudden resur- 
rection, to the great joy of the brethren, who stood 
mourning about him, and came into the city. The next 
day he and Barnabas departed and came unto Derbe. 
Xever was there such a clear illustration given of the 
small value and moral force of public opinion, except in 
the very similar case of Jesus in Jerusalem : ^^ Hosanna,'^ 
to-day, and ^^ Crucify Him'^ to-moriow. At one mo- 
ment exalting them as gods ; the next pelting them 
with stones and driving them out of the city as a nui- 
sance. 

The Saviour '' was above all others the beloved Son, 
in whom the Father was always well pleased, yet we 
see how little indulgence and tenderness He experienced ; 
so that it may be truly said, not only that He was per- 
petually burdened with a cross, during His residence on 
earth, but that His whole life was nothing but a kind of 
perpetual cross.^^* Paul, from his conversion, like his 
divine master, experienced little friendship from the 
world; so that his whole Christian life was also a per- 
petual cross-bearing. 



J'^Calvin's Institute, p. 629-30. Vol. 1. 



156 THE LIVES OF 

§ 6. PAUL AT DERBE. 

Derbe is another city of the same province of Lyca- 
onia, south-west of Lystra, not far from the latter place, 
near the Black mountains. '' And when they had 
preached the Gospel in that city, and had taught many, 
they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and 
Antioch,^^ in all of which places they had been so shame- 
fully treated. But as they returned, they sought to 
strengthen the faith of the disciples, earnestly exhorting 
them to remain firm ^Mn the faith, and that we must 
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of 
God.'^ 

On this return journey they also ordained elders in 
every Church and prayed with fasting, commending 
them to the Lord, on whom they believed. Still keep- 
ing on the same route they came to Perga, and at last to 
Attalia. This latter place is a maritine city of Pam- 
phylia, south of Perga, in Asia Minor. It was built by 
Attains Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, who gave it 
his own name. Here they shipped for Antioch, from 
whence they had been sent and recommended to the 
grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. On 
their arrival the whole Church was gathered together, 
and they related all that God had done with them, their 
trials, dangers, and hairbreadth escapes, as well as their 
crowning success. This ends PauFs first missionary 
tour, which could not have lasted less than two years, 
or until A. D. 49. 



THE APOSTLES. 157 

§ 7. APOSTOLIC SYNOD AT JERUSALEM. 
Christianity prospered wherever planted by Paul 
and Barnabas, both among the Jews and heathens, but 
especially at Antioch, to which they had returned from 
their first missionary journey to Asia Minor in the year 
48 or 49. They, with that whole congregation, were 
rejoicing over what the Lord had done through them. 
But their joy was not of long duration. Soon new 
troubles arose during their present labor in the mother 
congregation of the Gentiles, for some "i'ahe brethren^' 
came from Jerusalem to Antioch, as "spies'^ to an army, 
watching not only to see what progress Christianity was 
making among the heathens, but more especially to see 
in what way these heathens w^ere received into the 
Church. These spies remained here for some time, and 
gradually, no doubt by insinuation at first, but at last 
openly, taught these Gentile Christians that : *^ except 
ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot 
be saved.'' They desired to bring the whole Church, if 
possible, under the ^^ bondage'' of the Mosaic yoke. 
There were still many Jewish Christians who held to 
the ceremonial law, and could not so easily tear loose 
from it ; these tried to create a disturbance against Paul 
and Barnabas, because they did not require the Gentile 
Christians to be circumcised. 

This doctrine of the Jewish circumcision w^as vigor- 
ously opposed by Paul and Barnabas, as an unnecessary 



158 THE LIVES OF 

burden and a mere empty ceremony. The whole 
Church at Antioeh and elsewhere was in danger of being 
unhappily divided^ at least for a time, on account of 
these Judaizers, and the minds of the Gentile Christians 
became thereby greatly disturbed, especially at Antioeh. 
It was, therefore, ^^ determined by the saints at Antioeh 
that Paul and Barnabas, with certain others of them, 
should go up to Jerusalem, unto the Apostles and 
elders about this question." It seems that Paul also 
had an internal revelation from God about this matter, 
(Gal. ii. 2.) Paul, Barnabas and their heathen convert 
Titus, and some others, went up to Jerusalem to obtain 
a decision of the Apostles and elders on this question. 
This, therefore, gave rise to the Apostolic Council or 
Synod, which was held in the year A. D. 50. This 
was Paul's third journey to the Holy City, since his 
conversion. Coming to Jerusalem he first of all had a 
private consultation with the prominent leaders, the 
Apostles James, Peter and John, who, in St. PauFs esti- 
mation, ^^ seemed to be pillars'^ of the Church. This 
question of the circumcision had to be settled before 
Paul could satisfactorily proceed Avith his Gentile mis- 
sionary labors. In this public council of the Apostles 
and Jewish Christians there was much disputing, but 
Peter and John and James also came forward and spoke 
in defence of Paul and Barnabas, and at last a conserva- 
tive and liberal policy prevailed, The Apostles yielded 



THE APOSTLES. 159 

to PauPs position^ namely, that faith in Christ was after 
all the great thing to be attained, and that circumcision 
availed nothing. James at last came forward and of- 
fered that memorable compromise, laying no other bur- 
den upon the Gentile Christians, except requiring of 
them these three things : 1st. To abstain from eating 
meats offered to idols, 2. From eating blood and things 
strangled. 3. From fornication^ including marriages of 
near relatives — brothers and sisters. These were the 
forbidden things. This compromise seemed to give 
peace to the Church, at least for the time. The Apos- 
tles departing from Jerusalem, carried with them the 
decree of the Council, and Judas and Silas accompanied 
them to Antioch and accredited their commission and 
character. The original document read as follows: 

^^The Apostles, and the Elders, and the Brethren, 
to the Gentile Brethren in Antioch, and Syria, and Ci- 
licia, greeting : 

" Whereas we have heard that certain men who went 
out from us have troubled you with words, and unset- 
tled your souls by telling you to circumcise yourselves 
and keep the law, although we gave them no such com- 
mission. 

^^It has been determined by us, being assembled 
with one accord, to choose some from amongst ourselves 
and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and 
Saul, men that have offered up their lives for the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Ju- 
das and Silas, who themselves also will tell you byword 
the same which w^e tell you by letter. 

^^ For it has been detern^ined by the Holy Spirit and 



160 THE LIVES OF 

by us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these 
necessary things : that ye abstain from meats offered to 
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and 
from fornication. Wherefrom it ye keep yourselves, it 
shall be well with you. Farewell.'^ (Acts xv. 23 — 29.) 

But before the Apostle started on the second mis- 
sionary journey from Antioch, where he and Barnabas 
in the meantime had been diligently engaged in the work 
of Christian instruction, two painful circumstances oc- 
curred, which must not be forgotten. After the Apos- 
tolic Council, during the interval of time which Paul 
and Barnabas spent at Antioch, Peter, the chief of the 
Apostles, also came to visit the capital of Syria. He, 
at first, made no distinction between Jewish and Gentile 
Christians, but freely mingled with both. But when 
afterwards some legalistic Jews came there from Jerusa- 
lem, who were, perhaps, sent by the Apostle James, 
then Peter, for some cause, perhaps fear of the Jews, 
withdrew himself from the society of the Gentile Chris- 
tians, and refused to eat w^ith them. Even Barnabas 
was, for a time, also carried away with the dissimula- 
tion. For which inconsistency Paul rebuked him pub- 
licly and called him a hypocrite, because he was sanc- 
tioning the very heresy which was threatening the ex- 
istence of the Christian Church, which made St. Paul 
afterwards so much trouble. (Gal. ii. 10 — 14.)' 

They, no doubt, botji failed to some extent. Peter 
acted very inconsistently, and Paul was in turn rather 
severe, though the more consistent. Paul and Barnabas 



THE APOSTLES. 161 

still continued to preach and labor at Antioch for some 
time after this occurrence. When they again began to 
look for some foreign field of labor, Paul proposed to 
Barnabas that they would go over their old missionary 
ground, saying : " Let us go again and visit our breth- 
ren in every city where we have preached the word of 
the Lord, and see how they do/^ But a dispute arose 
between them, Barnabas desiring to take along John 
Mark, who had also come with them from Jerusalem, 
but Paul objected, becausei he had forsaken them at 
Perga. Barnabas desired to give his nephew one more 
trial, but Paul utterly refused, till at last they quarreled 
and separated. Each took a different route, Paul taking 
along Silas, and Barnabas Mark. 

These quarrels of the Apostles and holy men show 
us that even they, though full of the Holy Ghost, were 
not men of sinless perfection, but '* of like passions with 
ourselves." This latter quarrel caused these most inti- 
mate friends to separate, who had formerly stood by 
each other in their labors almost unto death. They 
never afterwards traveled together again, yet Paul after- 
' wards speaks highly of Mark, and declares him to be 
"profitable to him in the ministry." Great good, no 
doubt, resulted from this separation, as the stream of 
missionary labors was thereby divided. This difficulty 
was afterwards fully settled between Paul, Barnabas 
and Mark, the latter proving himself faithful and 
worthy of all confidence. 11 



1G2 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTER III. 



§ 1. PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY TOUE. 

Some time after the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem, 
in the year 51 or 52, St. Paul started on his second mis- 
sionary tour among the heathens, in which he brought 
the Gospel to Europe. The two great missionaries had 
quarreled and separated. Barnabas had taken with him 
his nephew, John Mark, and visited Cyprus, his native 
island. Paul selected Silas as his companion, who had 
been so fully tested at Jerusalem and at Antioch in the 
exercise of those talents as a preacher, that he had even 
gained the title of ^^ prophet'^ before he left Jerusalem. 
^^ Such a task as that of spreading the Gospel of God in 
a hostile world, needs a resolute will and an undaunted 
courage. And the work is too sacred to be put in 
jeopardy by an experiment/' But in Silas Paul found 
a faithful and persevering companion, who could not be 
easily discouraged in the arduous undertaking. Paul, 
with Silas, after being recommended by the brethren ^^at 
Antioch unto the grace of God,'' departed on his second 
tour to revisit the cities where he and Barnabas had 
preached the Gospel before, desiring to see how the work 
of the Lord prospered. This time they passed overland 



THE APOSTLES. 163 

through the Syrian gates into Cilicia^ in all these places 
strengthening the charches already planted^ besides mak- 
ing large additions from the heathen world. Going 
northwest they came to the cities of Derbe and Lystra in 
Lycaonia. In Lystra they found among the converts 
one who was^ no doubt, a spectator of PauFs sufferings 
there before, who must not be forgqtten, for this per- 
sonage became an important and faithful actor in the 
great missionary drama of St. PauFs life. His name is 
Timotheus. He had, no doubt, become a Christian while 
the Apostle was at Lystra the first time. Him Paul 
calls his ^^ beloved son,^^ and says, *'for in Christ Jesus 
I have begotten you through the Gospel.'^ 

No doubt he stood by and saw the recovery of the 
Apostle, when he had been stoned and dragged outside 
of the city wall and left as one dead. Timothy was a 
half-breed Jew, the son of a heathen father, and a pious 
Jewess, Eunice, who, with her mother, Lois, had faith- 
fully instructed him from his childhood in the Old 
Testament Scriptures and the way of holiness. He was 
thus prepared through the providence of God to be a 
suitable companion for the Apostle. He had, by his 
training, acquired a great familiarity with the Scriptures, 
which were able to make him wise unto salvation. 
Though well taught in the holy Scriptures, yet had he 
never complied with the Mosaic rite of circumcision, 
perhaps because his father, being a Greek, may have 



164 THE LIVES OF 

been opposed to the infliction of such a sign upon his 
child. Paul seeing in him the fitness of an assistant, 
therefore trained him to be an associate with him in the 
Apostolic ministry, and had him circumcised, so as not 
to make him objectionable to the Jews. We might 
wonder why Paul, who had rejected Mark, would now 
take a new and untried convert along, if it had not been 
that he had such a good report among the brethren, both 
at Lystra and Iconium. Paul, Silas and Timothy now 
proceeded to the other cities visited before, and also com- 
municated to them the action of the Apostolic Council. 
They not only confirmed the work begun in the former 
missionary journey, but made daily fresh additions to 
these churches ; and extended their journey far north 
of the former route, even through all Phrygia and Ga- 
latia, to which Christianity had not as yet come. 

It appears that it was bodily sickness which caused 
Paul to preach the Gospel to the Galatians at first, 
rather against his will. This would seem to be the ac- 
tual meaning of Gal. iv. 13, where he says, ^^You have 
injured me in nothing, but you know that because of bod- 
ily sickness I preached the glad-tidings to you on the first 
occasion.'^ He was diligent ^Mn season and out of sea- 
son.'^ Woe was on him if he did not preach the Gospel. 
Galatia is a province north of Phrygia in Asia Minor, 
which the Gauls had invaded and conquered some 300 
years before the Christian era. They worshipped Cy- 



THE APOSTLES. 165 

bele, the great mother of the gods. Their principal 
cities were Ancyra, Tavium and Pesinus, the latter of 
which carried on some commerce. Callimachus calls 
them a ^^ foolish people.^' And St. Paul afterward says, 
'' O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you V^ 

But through St. PauFs preaching many were con- 
verted, both Greeks and Jews, men and women, free- 
men and slaves, of whom many became so attached to 
Paul, that they would have plucked out their eyes and 
given them to him, if it had been possible. (Gal. iv. 15.) 
After having preached the Gospel in Phrygia and Ga- 
latia, they were hindered by the Holy Ghost from 
preaching it in Asia, strictly so-called. Then they went 
to Mysia, another province in the western part of Asia 
Minor, where they were again told by the same Spirit, 
that they should not go to Bithynia, that the Gospel was 
not yet to be preached in the populous cities of Asia, 
and they came to Troas. Alexandria Troas was a city 
on the sea-coast of Phrygia, on the Hellespont, having 
the old city of Troy on the north and that of Asos on 
the south. Here Paul w^as perplexed rather, not know- 
ing what to do. While in this state of embarrassment 
he had a remarkable vision, in which a Macedonian man 
appeared before him, who seemed to cry beseechingly to 
him, ^^Come over and help us.^^ In this cry we hear 
the ^S'oice of the sick inquiring for a physician, — of the 
ignorant seeking for wisdom, — the voice of heathenism 



166 THE LIVES OF , 

ever crying to the Church for the Gospel of salvation/^ 
This voice of earnest prayer was enough to decide and 
move the ardent spirit of Paul^ that on awakening he 
summoned his companions, related the vision, and they 
made immediate preparation for the journey. Here they 
were joined by another companion, Luke, the beloved 
physician, who is also the writer of the Acts of the 
Apostles. It is said by Eusebius and Jerome, that he 
was a native of Antioch. If so, he was, probably, con- 
verted by St. Paul at an earlier period, and on account 
of the Apostle's bodily infirmities, perhaps, requested to 
join himself to the party at Troas as a preacher and 
physician. Such a faithful Christian and physician 
would be of immense value to a missionary. 

They now set sail from the Asian shore and came to 
Samathracia, an island in the ^gean Sea, and the sec- 
ond day they came to the harbor Neapolis, which was 
about ten miles from Philippi, '' which is the chief city 
of that part of Macedonia, and a colony.''* 

§ 2. PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 

The city of Philippi took its name after Philip, king 
of Macedon, who had greatly repaired and beautified 
it, and made it a frontier town against the Thracians. 
Julius Caesar made this city a Roman colony, which was 

*The character of a Colonia was, that it was a miniature re- 
semblance of Rome, and intended as a safeguard on her fron- 
tiers. 



THE APOSTLES. 167 

afterwards enlarged by Augustus, and hence its inhabi- 
tants were considered as freemen of Rome. Their af- 
fairs were regulated by their own magistrates, who were 
called Duumviri, Philippi was at that time a very im- 
portant place, and had gold mines in its vicinity, and 
also a great commerce. A hundred years before Paul 
came there, the great battle was fought between Anto- 
nius and Brutus, 42 B. C. It then became the burial 
place of Roman freedom, but now the birthplace of 
Christian liberty. 

The four pilgrims now entered the city of Philippi, 
unknown- and friendless, by whom Europe first received 
the doctrine of faith, which was soon to triumph over 
heathenism ; and holds to this day the triumphant sway 
over half the globe. In this city Paul and his com- 
panions stayed for several days ; and seeking a retired 
spot on the Sabbath outside of the city wall, away from 
the unholy din of mirth and business, they came to a 
place along the river Gaggitas, which ran by the city. 
In places along streams and other waters the Jews were 
accustomed to construct their places of social worship 
and prayer. Even in heathen countries where the Jews 
were not numerous enough to build a synagoge, they 
were allowed to erect prose ttc/iae or oratories, along the 
river banks or sea shore, as sacred places of prayer. 
These were probably tLe places which in the Old Testa- 
meat were called the " high places. ^^ Those who thus 



168 THE LIVES OF 

kept up the worship of God in this place, were a few 
^^ women only," for it may always be observed that " it 
is among the softer sex that religion takes deepest root, 
and among them a regard to its observance is always 
found, long after the indifference generated by a change 
of circumstances, or by the engrossing cares of business, 
hag turned away the devotions of men." So it was at 
Philippi ; while the sons of Juda had grown indifferent 
to the religion of their fathers, the daughters of Zion 
came still regularly together where prayer was wont to 
be made. Here the Apostle and his companions met 
them, and preached to them the new doctrine of grace, 
and that Jesus was the Messiah. Among the hearers 
was Lydia, a Jewess, who had emigrated from Thyatira, 
and carried on the trade in the purple dye for which 
that region from which she came was very famous, even 
from the time of Homer. While she was listening to 
Paul's preaching, the Lord '^ opened" her heart to the 
comprehension of the truth of the Gospel, ^Hhat she at- 
tended unto the things which were spoken by Paul," 
and confessed her faith in Jesus. After having been 
baptized with all her household, she, out of love and 
regard towards those who taught her the way of life, 
constrained them to abide at her house. They com- 
plied with her request, and made her house their home 
while they stayed in Philippi. 

As the missionaries continued to go to this oratory 



THE APOSTLES. 169 

or place of prayer, they were noticed by a female slave 
who had a spirit of divination, " who brought her mas- 
ter much gain by soothsaying.'^ She was supposed by 
the peopie to be inspired by the Pythian Apollo, the 
oracular god, to utter his oracles concerning future 
events. The owner of this poor girl had been carry- 
ing o\\ a very profitable business through the arts of her 
divinations at Philippi. This damsel followed them as 
they passed along the streets to their place of prayer, 
crying, " These men are the servants of the most high 
God, which show unto us the way of salvation.^' This 
she did for many days, which grieved Paul, who turn- 
ed around and commanded the evil spirit, "\n the name 
of Jesus Christ, to come out of her.'' And he came out 
the same hour, and the demoniac was restored to her 
right mind. By this the w^hole machinery of the own- 
er's gain was destroyed, which so enraged her managers, 
• that they took Paul and Silas and dragged them before 
the magistrates as distuj^bers of the city, saying, " These 
men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and 
teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, 
neither to observe, being Romans." 

The magistrate seeing in these men only some for- 
eign vagabonds, who had come hither without any 
object, merely to disturb the inhabitants, ordered them 
to be punished. Without allowing them any defence, 
the multitude had them instantly stripped and flogged 



170 THE LIVES OF 

at discretion. After having been thus shamefully 
abused^ they were given unto the jailor, who put them 
into the inner part of the prison " and made their feet 
fast in the stocks.'' Such treatment might have cast a 
gloom upon the minds of these men as regards their 
actual calling to go into Macedonia, if they had not been 
truly guided by the Holy Ghost. They, instead of 
doubting their divine mission into the new country, or 
desponding in their hunger, suffering and confinement, 
turned the dark abode of crime into a temple of grace, 
by uplifting their voices in songs of praise to the Lord 
that He counted them worthy to suffer for the glory of 
His name. They passed the dreary night, not 

^^In silence or in fear, — 

They shook the depths of the prison gloom, 
With their hymns of lofty cheer, — 

Amid the storm they sang.^' 

They had faith to believe that God would reveal 
His power at the appointed time.' Joseph's feet had 
been ^^hurt in stocks," and he became a prince in Egypt. 
Daniel had been cast into the lion's den, and he was 
made a ruler over Babylon. 

^^At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang 
praises to God ; and the prisaners heard them." While 
thus inclosed between mvssive walls with their feet in 
stocks, and besides locked in heavy chains, their spirits 
rise in songs of prayer, perhaps, for those very persecu- 



THE APOSTLES. 171 

tors whom they had come to ^^help" and save. In 
answer to their prayer, a great earthquake suddenly 
shook the prison to it§ very foundations, and immedi- 
ately all the doors burst open, and loosened the chains 
from all the prisoners. The jailor seeing all the prison 
doors open, supposed that all the prisoners had escaped, 
and knowing the utter ruin which would come upon 
himself, (for according to Roman law, the escape of 
prisoners would have been death to the jailor,) he there- 
fore drew his sword and in this moment of despair 
would have killed himself, had not Paul seen the fren- 
zied actions of the wretched man, and cried out with a 
loud voice, saying, ^^Do thyself no harm, for we are all 
here.^^ PauPs sight must have been assisted from on 
high or he could not have seen in the dark the jailor^s 
suicidal actions. The jailor hearing these words, called 
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell 
down before Paul and Silas, saying, ^^Sirs, what must I 
do to be saved ?^' To which they replied, ^'Believe in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved with all thy 
house." The jailor, probably, had at first reference only 
to being saved from present danger, concluded the shock 
had some connection with the songs and prayers of his 
Jewish prisoners, whom he knew had been unjustly 
dealt with. His alarm and intended suicide, which 
Paul had seen in the dark, led him to inquire into the 
way of escaping far greater dangers — the ruin of his 



172 THE LIVES OF 

soul. The words to all thy house, would seem to indi- 
cate that all the members of the jailor's family had 
crowded around him^ as well as the prisoners who had 
listened to their midnight songs of praise. The two 
prisoners now proclaimed to him and all his house the 
word of the Lord ; no sooner had the jailor learned the 
character of these men, and their divine mission, than 
he made atonement for their shameful treatment, and 
took them into his own house, washed their stripes, and 
was baptized with all his house. He showed his genu- 
ine conversion, inasmuch as he would no longer suffer 
these men who were the authors of his hope of salvation, 
to lie like felons in prison, but took them into his own 
house and set meat before them and rejoiced, believing 
in God with all his house. This was a remarkable and 
happy night for the jailor and all his house, never to be 
forgotten. The prisoners now became the teachers of 
the jailor, and he to the other prisoners, to whom the 
Gospel would otherwise not have come. 

At length morning came, and found the jailor, in- 
stead of being the ignorant slave of sin, the head of a 
Christian family. A change had also come over the 
magistrates, either from reflecting over their injustice 
done to the prisoners, or perhaps intimidated by the 
earthquake, or moved by the representations of the 
jailor, which caused them to send the sergeants with an 
order to the jailor that he should let these friendless 



THE APOSTLES. 173 

strangers go. The jailor announced this message with 
joy to the prisoners and told them now to depart in 
peace ; but this did not satisfy Paul, who refused to ac- 
cept his liberty without some public acknowledgment 
of their innocence and the wrong they had suffered. 
Therefore, Paul being a Roman citizen and entitled to 
all the advantages of that condition, said, ^^They have 
beaten us openly and un condemned, though we are 
Roman citizens, and they have cast us into prison ; and 
now they thrust us out so slyly ? jN'o, indeed ; but let 
them come themselves and fetch us out.'^ We may well 
suppose that this was alarming news to the magistrates, 
who were guilty of having violated ^4he sacred privi- 
lege of Roman citizenship V^ A privilege which shield- 
ed its possessor throughout the Roman world from 
punishment without first having had an open investiga- 
tion of the charge. 

^^How often/' says Cicero, ^^has this exclamation, / 
avi a Roman citizen, brought aid and safety even among 
barbarians in the remotest parts of the earth !'' The 
magistrates now came and apologized for the cruel treat- 
ment of the prisoners, and led them out of prison, and 
respectfully requested them to leave the city. They 
now returned to the house of Lydia, exhorted those who 
believed the Gospel, bade them farewell and departed. 
It was not, however, deemed sufficient that this infant 
church, at Philippi should be left alone with the mere 



174 THE LIVES OF 

remembrance of words of exhortation. Luke and Timo- 
thy^ two of the Apostolic company, were left behind to 
continue the work begun. In Philippi St. Paul left 
behind one of the most flourishing congregations, which 
gave him so much satisfaction in after years, that he 
called it his joy and his crown, and assured it of his ar- 
dent love. From this congregation, contrary to his 
usual custom, he accepted occasional presents. They 
next came to Araphipolis, another Macedonian city, but 
making no stay, they came to Appolonia, an inland 
town, and afterwards to Thessalonica, a large commer- 
cial city on the Thermaic Gulf. 

§ 3. THESSALONICA. 

Thessalonica was a sea-port city, the capital of the 
second district of Macedonia, and the residence of the 
Roman Governor. It was about one hundred miles 
south of Philippi. The Jews were extremely numerous 
here and had a synagogue, the first they found in Eu- 
rope, and many Greeks had joined the Jewish religion 
and worshipped the God of Abraham with the Jews. 
Here the Apostle stayed at least three weeks, and, as his 
manner was on the Sabbath day, he went to the syna- 
gogue and reasoued with the Jews, alleging that the 
Messiah, who was distinctly foretold in the Hebrew 
Scriptures, was ahvays described as destined to undergo 
great suiferings during his earthly career, and after a 



THE APOSTLES. 175 

death of shame he was at last to rise again from the 
grave^ and conchided with the crowning doctrine, ^^That 
this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ/^ This 
glorious news was well received by a large number of 
hearers, some Jews, many devout Greeks and not a few 
of the chief women. Many of the heathens also be- 
lieved, so that in a short time this Church became widely 
known, because of its being situated in a great commer- 
^ cial city. While laboring here with great success, the 
unbelieving Jews, as heretofore, raised a mob of lewd 
fellows against the missionaries, but as Paul and Silas 
had put themselves out of their reach, the gang seized 
Jason and other brethren, and dragged them before the 
rulers of the city, crying, '' These that have turned the 
world upside down are coming hither also, whom Jason 
hath received ; and these all do contrary to the decrees 
of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. ^^ 
The magistrates looked more calmly at this matter, and 
having taken security of Jason and his companions, 
quietly let them go. After this tumult nothing more 
could be done at Thessalonica ; the brethren sent Paul 
and Silas by night to Berea. 

§ 4. BEREA. 

The city of Berea was about sixty miles south of 

Thessalonica, in the third district of Macedonia. Here 

they preached for some time in the synagogue of the Jews 

with much acceptance, both among the Greeks and Jews, 



176 THE T.IVES OF 

who were more noble-minded and susceptible of truth 
than those at Thessalonica. The new converts searched 
the Scriptures daily, to see whether the new doctrine 
agreed with them. (Acts xvii. 11.) "Therefore many of 
them believed ; also of honorable women which were 
Greeks, and of men not a few." But when the spiteful 
Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge how the word of 
God prospered in Berea, they came all the way hither, 
for the express purpose of hunting out the preachers of * 
Jesus by stirring up a new mob ; and in this they were 
so successful that it became necessary for the brethren to 
send Paul away to the south by sea, because he seemed 
to be the grand object of their persecution. Silas and 
Timothy being less obnoxious, remained back in Berea 
to complete the work begun. 

§ 5. PAUL AT ATHENS. 
The brethren of Berea conducted Paul by sea to 
Athens, whom he charged to tell Silas and Timothy to 
come after him as soon as their commission in Mace- 
donia would allow. Paul was now about to enter the 
land of Attica, the classic soil of Greece, which was 
about two hundred and fifty-one miles south of Berea. 
After having sailed around Cape Sunium, his eyes get 
the first glimpse of that city, "built nobly on the JE- 
gean Shore," which was "the eye of Greece, mother of 
arts and'cloquence."* 

^Milton's Paradise Regained IV. 240. 



THE APOSTLES. 177 

As he treads upon Attic soil he is in ^Hhe Holy 
Land of the ideal f he has reached the most sacred shrine 
of the ^^fair humanities^' of Paganism. ^^It was at 
Athens that the human forra^ sedulously trained^ at- 
tained its most exquisite and winning beauty ; there un- 
assisted human freedom put forth its most splendid 
power'' of intellectual glory, in art, in poetry, in 
philosopliy and religion the world ever saw. And had 
it been in the power of man to turn into bread the 
stones of the wilderness, or to make a new Paradise in 
lieu of that lost Eden, before whose gate once waved 
the fiery sword of the cherubim, then such ends would 
have been achieved at Athens in the days of her glory. 

Attica is a triangular tract of country, which in its 
southern extremity comes to a point at the high pro- 
montory of Sunium. The high mountains of Cithaeron 
and Parnes separated it from Boeotia and northern 
Greece. Upon a high and rocky elevation of ground 
was built the Acropolis of Athens; and Minerva's co- 
lossal statue with shield and spear stood upon the sum- 
mit of the citadel, and looking down from her lofty 
eminence upon the city beneath, as its protecting god- 
dess. Below was the Areopagus, Pnyx and the Mu- 
seum. From the craggy peak of the Lycab.ettus a 
spectator could see all Athens, even the plain to the Pi- 
raeus. Athens and the Piraeus must never be consid- 
ered separately. One was the city, the other its harbor. 
12 



178 THE LIVES OF 

At this harbor St. Paul first landed^ from which he 
wended his way to the city of the gods. Paul entered 
at Piraeus^ the street five miles long, and, passing 
through the hollow between the two long walls, entered 
Athens by the city gate. These walls were sixty feet 
high and five miles long, and extended all the way from 
Piraeus to Athens, and were built between the slopes of the 
Pnyx and the museum of Attica. Piraeus itself was also 
surrounded by a wall seven and a half miles long, built 
of hewn stone, and so thick that two carriages could pass 
each other. The city of Athens was also surrounded by 
a wall some twenty miles long, of great extent and 
strength. As St. Paul passed along and entered the city, 
he beheld her thousand works of art on every hand, as 
well as her beautiful images and temples of all the gods 
of Olympus. This long street by which he entered 
Athens had covered walks or porticos. Thus passing 
along, he naturally came to the Agora, or market place, 
where he afterwards encountered the Stoics and Epicu- 
rians. To the west were the beautiful groves, the Acad- 
emy and the Lyceum, where the ancient philosophers, 
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, had taught the best hu- 
man morals. 

^^ Here,^^ says one, ^^we passed Cape Sunium, whose 
yellow columns mark in the horizon the ever-living trace 
of Grecian wisdom of that Plato, w^hose disciple I should 
be if Christ had neither spoken^ nor lived, nor suffered, 
nor pardoned in expiring.^^ 



THE APOSTLES. 179 

The xigora of Athens was the centre of a glorkjus 
public life, where the orators, statesmen, poets and artists 
of Greece found expressions of their noblest enthusiasm. 
It was also the meeting place of philosophers, the place 
of idleness, of conversation, and of business. It was 
finely embellished with paintings and images of all the 
gods of Olympus. To the right of the Agora, on the 
highest hill, stood the Acropolis, the centre of the city, 
and the glory of Grecian art. In the midst of the Acropo- 
lis were her magnificent temples, a mountain rising al- 
most perpendicularly on every side. This mountain re- 
sembles a magnificent pedestal, as if hewn by the gods 
themselves to place their altars on. Here were the most 
magnificent buildings, not only of Attica, but of the 
world. The Acropolis was the grand depository for 
everything the most splendid which human genius could 
produce in ])ainting, sculpture and architecture. The 
prime ornament of the Acropolis was the Parthenon, or 
the residence of the Virgin-Goddess, erected in honor of 
Minerva, who, according to their mythology, sprung 
into existence from the brain of Jupiter, full grown and 
perfect from the start. She was regarded as the god- 
dess of wisdom and skill, and of all the liberal arts and 
sciences. According to the opinion of all ages, this was 
the finest temple that human hands had ever raised, and 
seemed to say, ^^I am the Parthenon, I can be noth- 
ing else/^ 



180 THE J.IVES OF 

This building was 270 feet long, ^8 feet broad and 
69 feet high. In it was the statue of Minerva^ made by 
Phidias, the master of the art of statuary. It was made 
of ivory, 39 feet high, and entirely covered with gold, 
at a cost of |465,000. But most prominent of all stood 
the colossal statue of Minerva PromachiiSy which rose 
in gigantic proportion above all the other buildings of 
the Acropolis, and stood with spear and shield, and a 
helmet on its head, as the tutelary divinity of Athens 
and Attica. This magnificent statue, standing upon the 
summit of the citadel, could be seen by the flash of the 
light on its armor at a great distance, even from Corinth, 
which was forty-five miles off. The pedestal upon 
which it stood was twenty feet, and the statue itself was 
fifty-five feet high. The distance around the Acropolis 
was between six and seven miles. 

The temple of Jupiter Olympus, which was more to 
the east, surpassed every other structure of Athens in 
size. It had 120 columns, 60 feet high, and 6 feet in 
diameter. The enclosure of the temple was half a 
mile in circumference. The front of the temple was 171 
feet and its depth was over 400 feet. They worked 
and beautified at this massive structure 700 years before 
it was fully completed. The image of Jupiter at 
Athens was only surpassed by the one at Elis, made by 
Phidias, which, though seated upon a throne, was said to 
have been 60 feet high and overlaid with ivory and 



THE AtOSTLES. 181 

gold at an enormous expense. Jupiter is generally 
represented as having in his right hand a figure of vic- 
tory^ made of gold and ivory, and in his left hand a 
sceptre, beautifully adorned with various kinds of 
metals, and on the top a golden eagle. His brow was 
encircled with a crown, made to imitate leaves of olives ; 
his robe was massive gold curiously adorned with 
figures of animals and lilies. His sandals were also of 
gold. His throne was equally beautifully adorned. 

The Areopagus was a small eminence a little to the 
northwest of the Arcopolis, and north of the Agora. On 
this hill the Court or Senate of the Areopagus usually 
held its meetings. A space was leveled for the purpose 
on the summit of the rock, and the sixteen steps which 
led to it from the Agora were cut out of the natural solid 
rock. This place was called Mars Hill ; here St. Paul 
afterwards uttered, in the sublimest strains of eloquence, 
to that august assembly, the glorious words of eternal 
life. No wonder, then, as Paul passed along the thou- 
sand works of art, and beheld this beautiful city of the 
gods, that his soul burned with zeal for that God, whom 
he saw entirely forgotten and dishonored on every side. 
No w^onder then, that when he saw her fine and costly 
temples dedicated to the gods, before which all Greece 
in these days of her pride and glory bowed the knee 
in adoration and worship, his soul melted with pity 
for those who, notwithstanding their intellectual great- 



182 THE LIVES OF 

ness, were wholly given to idolatry. He beheld in 
the religion of Athens and in the creatures of her my- 
thology a mere deification of human attributes and the 
powers of nature. These were represented and adorned 
by the art of Phidias, the sculptor and architect, in 
every shape and form of beauty and grandeur, so as to 
make them attractive. Better these, no doubt, than all 
other forms of idolatry which have deified the brutes, 
but still they had no power to raise man to a higher 
position than that which he occupies by nature. Paul 
was not ignorant of things really useful, nor blind to 
art or philosophy; but when these deified vice and 
made falsehood attractive, he rejected them as far 
worse than valueless. Taking all these things together, 
no wonder then that a moral and spiritual gloom should 
settle upon his soul, and that '^ His spirit was stirred 
within him, when he saw the city crowded with idols.^^ 

But St. Paul did not only see a city crowded with a 
thousand idols, but he also found there the homes of the 
greatest philosophers and teachers of the ancient world. 
Here Socrates had lived and taught, and drank the poi- 
soned cup. He was the most just, the most exalted, the 
completest type of humanity to which classic Antiquity 
ever gave birth. Here his renowned pupils, Plato and 
Aristotle, had their celebrated schools of philosophy. 
True, these noble teachers of morals had died, but Paul 
now encountered other schools of philosophy, the Stoics 



THE APOSTLES. 183 

and Epicurians, who afterwards became the bitter ene- 
mies of Christianity. The Epicurians, like the Sadducees 
of the Jews, were pleasure-loving men of the world. 
They taught that the enjoyment of sensual pleasure was 
the highest end of human existence. There was noth- 
ing to disturb or alarm them ; their highest aim was to 
do what the animals do instinctively, and to gratify 
themselves. With many these principles led to the 
grossest sensuality and crime. 

The Stoics were a kind of Grecian Pharisees, who 
taught that man must be unaffected and indifferent 
under all circumstances of life. They held that God was 
the soul of the universe ; and that the world was itself a 
rational soul, producing all things out of itself, and re- 
suming all things back to itself again. The resurrection 
they denied, but held that at death the soul returns and 
is absorbed again in God. They were Pantheistic. 
The two great enemies with which Christianity has ever 
to contend, are the tw^o ruling principles of the Epi- 
curians and Stoics — Pleasure and Pride, 

The religion of the Athenians was one of taste and 
beauty. Their devotion consisted of prayers, sacrifices 
and purifications. They went to the temples with a 
sad countenance ; they kissed the ground, offered their 
prayers standing, kneeling or prostrate; and held 
branches in their hands which they lifted up to heaven 
or stretched out to their god after applying them to 



184 "THE LIVES OP 

their mouths. In addressing the infernal deities they 
struck the earth with their feet or hands. They also had 
priests, among whom was a High Priest, who regulated 
the worship. Here we learn that mythology is the 
highest point, to which unassisted human nature can 
attain in religion. Yet how destitute of moral power is 
all human religion, and how deficient in satisfying the 
craving wants of the soul. It has no power to make 
man holy, or wise, neither will it help him in great calam- 
ities, for then he seeks for and prays to the unknown 
God. Athens was in all respects one of the most fav- 
ored cities in the world, renowned in every branch of 
wisdom, learning and wealth, and favored with all the 
religions that human genius could invent or necessity 
create and beautify, that it even called forth the ex- 
pression of a Roman satirist, who said, ^Hhat it was 
easier to find a god there than a man.^' Yet with all 
these advantages, when St. Paul visited it, his soul w^as 
greatly moved at* beholding so fine a city ^Svholly given 
to idolatry.'' If Hesiod is correct, they must have had 
30,000 gods. 

At Athens Paul again first entered the synagogue 
and disputed with the Jews and the devout persons, but 
with what success we are not told. He also proclaimed 
Christ daily in the Agora, or market place, and this with 
so much power and eloquence that he soon drew the at- 
tention of the learned Athenians, the Epicurians and 



THE APOSTLES. 185 

Stoics. Some of these^ after hearing him^ remarked^ 
^^What will this babbler say?^^ Others thought he had 
some strange gods to announce, because he preached 
unto them Jesus and the resurrection. At last they took 
him and brought him before the venerable court of the 
Areopagus, the supreme council in all matters of such 
importance. The judges sat in the open air, upon seats 
hewn out in the rocks, on a platform which was ascended 
by a flight of sixteen stone steps leading iunnediately 
from the xlgora to Mars Hill. The number of these 
judges was fifty-one, who were appointed for life. They 
were not only to pass sentence on murder, theft, and 
gross crimes, but they punished indolence, rewarded in- 
dustry and virtue, and formed a moral as well as a crimi- 
nal court. They also took coo^nizance of matters of reli- 
gion, such as the consecration of new gods, the erection of 
temples and altars, and the introduction of new ceremo- 
nies into divine worship. On this account St. Paul was 
brought before the tribunal of the Areopagus as a setter 
forth of strange gods, because he preached Jesus and the 
resurrection. Here the news-hunting Athenians de- 
sired Paul to make knowm the particulars of a subject 
never before brought to their ears. 

It is also a historical fact that in Athens were more 
idols than in all Greece besides ; and they had twice as 
many sacred feasts as others had. Whatever strange 
gods were recommended they admitted, and allowed 



186 THE LIVES OF 

them a temple and an altar^ so that they had almost as 
many gods as men. Even after the Empire became 
Christian, the Athenians were still addicted to idolatry ; 
and all the pious edicts of Christian Emperors could 
not root it out, till by the irruption of the Goths that 
city was entirely destroyed. Though they were learned, 
and ^^ professing themselves to be wise, they became 
fools/^ Truly ^^the world by wisdom knew not God/^ 

Among these wise and learned men of Greece St. 
Paul took his stand on Mars Hill, near the temple of 
Mars, the grand structures of the Parthenon and of 
Minerva facing him from above. In front of him, 
towering upon its pedestal on the rock of the Acropolis, 
was the bronze colossus of Minerva, armed with spear, 
shield and helmet, looking down from her lofty emi- 
nence in the citadel as the champion of Athens. The 
glory of the city spread out before him with her temples 
and her shrines ; the sages of Greece around him. He 
was surrounded by a wilderness of temples and of gods. 
No place was more suitable for a discourse upon the 
mysteries of religion than the Areopagus, and no audi- 
ence less receptive. Here St. Paul, divinely inspired, 
took his stand and uttered in bold tone, and in his no- 
blest style, in godlike strains of eloquence, the divine 
truth that Jesus was the Saviour and Redeemer of the 
world. 

" Never yet had Athens, in her most glorious state, 



THE APOSTLES. 187 

heard a discourse which for solemn beauty and lofty 
eloquence could equal this brief declaration of the prov- 
idence of God in the religion of his creatures. Never 
did the world see an orator in a sublimer scene, or in 
one that could awaken higher emotions in those who 
heard or him who spoke.'' 

The divine orator raised his eyes to all the monu- 
ments of Athenian devotion, and introduced his subject 
by saying: ^^ Ye men of Athens, all things which I be- 
held bear witness to your carefulness in religion. For 
as I passed through your city and beheld the objects of 
your worship, I found amongst them an altar with this 
inscription^ To the unknown God 1"^^ Whom^ therefore, 
ye worship, though ye know Him not, Him declare I 
unto you. God who made the world and all things 
therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, 
dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is 
He served by the hands of men, as though He needed 
anything ; for it is He that giveth unto all life, and 
breath, and all things. And He made of one blood all 
the nations of mankind, to dwell upon the face of the 

*At a time when the Athenians were afflicted Avith a pesti- 
lence, they invited Epimenides, the philosoplier, to lustrate 
their city. The method adopted by him was to carry several 
sheep to the Areopagus, wlience they were left to wander as 
they pleased, under the observation of persons sent to attend 
them. As each sheep lay down, it was sacrificed on the spot 
to the propitious God. By this ceremonv, it is said, the citv 
was relieved ; but as it was still unknown w^hat deity was pro- 
pitious, an altar was erected to the unknown God on every 
spot where a sheep had been sacrificed. Home's Introduction, 
Vol. I., p. 90. 



188 THE LIVES OF 

whole earth ; and ordained to each the appointed sea- 
sons of their existence, and the bounds of their habita- 
tion, that they should seek God, if haply they might 
feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from 
every one of us, for in Him we live and move and have 
our being, as certain also of your own poets have said, 

* For we are also His offspring.' 
For as much, then, as we are the offspring of God, 
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto 
gold, or silver, or stone, graven by the art and device 
of man." 

^^Howbeit, those past times of ignorance God hath 
overlooked; but. now He commandeth all men every- 
where to repent, because he hath appointed a day 
wherein He will judge the world in righteousness, by 
that man whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath 
given assurance unto all, in that He hath raised Him 
up from the dead.'^ (Acts xvii. 22 — 31-) 

But when they had heard of the resurrection of the 
dead, the proud sages of Greece turned sneeringly 
away ; some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee 
again of this matter, and thus forever lost the oppor- 
tunity to learn from this fountain of truth that wisdom 
which alone makes wise unto salvation, which their 
philosophy could never discover. So Paul departs from 
among them, and never again uplifted his voice from 
the Areopagus to those proud and benighted philoso- 



THE APOSTLES. 189 

phers. Yet his eloquence was not entirely lost, for Dio- 
nysius, one of the Judges of the Areopagus, and a 
woman named Daman's, and others not named, believed 
and became disciples of Jesus. After the Saviour of 
the world had been offered to the w^ise Athenians, and 
they had rejected Him, as a thing of foolishness, Paul 
departs from the city. PauFs speech on the Areopagus 
is beautifully described by Milford Bard in the follow- 
ing lines : 

ST. PAUL AT ATHENS. 

" He stood before the assembled throng, 

The glory of their age ; 
The sons of science and of song, . 

The heathen, saint and sage. 

Upon the grave of Greece he stood. 

And held the chastening rod ; 
To preach, baptized in sacred blood. 

The Gospel of his God. 

Unawed in Athen^s halls of fame, 

His glorious accents rung ; 
The temples trembled at the name 

Of Jesus, from his tongue. 

The fanes of proud philosophy 

Were crumbling in his sight ; 
While o'er the world of liberty. 

Shone Beth'lems star of light. 

The sages listened to the word. 

By heathen hearts abhorred ; 
And trembled as they leaned and heard 

The glory of the Lord. 



190 THE LIVES OF 

The ancient idol's honr had come, 

To crumble and decay ; 
The Delphic Oracle was dumb, 

The priestess passed way. 

A suffering Saviour's love was told, 

His banner was unfurled ; 
Redemption's record was unrolled 

Around a dying world. 

Where clouds upon Olympus rise, 
And rolled the thunderer's tones ; 

The Grecian gods forsook the skies, 
And left their golden thrones. 

On that benighted nation rose. 
More blest than learning's light; 

The Star the shouting shepherds chose 
To shine upon their night. 

Hail ! happy hour, when to the world 

The Gospel shall be given ; 
When vice shall be by virtue hurled, 

And hope shall dwell on heaven ! 

When Turk and Tartar shall atone, 

Before the power above ; 
The ^thiop and the Arab own 

A Saviour's lasting love ! 

Hail ! glorious hour, when all mankind 

Shall bow beneath his nod ; 
And in one faith, and with one mind. 

Shall feel the grace of God." 

What super-human civilization was that, among the 
Greeks of Athens, which supplied a great man to com- 



THE APOSTI.ES. 191 

mand, an architect to conceive^ a sculptor to decorate, 
statuaries to execute, workmen to cut, a people to pay, 
and eyes to comprehend and admire such an edifice ! 
Where shall we find such a people or such a period ! 
Nowhere ! The soul, struck too forcibly by the aspect 
of such edifices, lias only power to admire, and to look 
at them and leave them ! — mourning less the devastation 
of that super-human work of man than the impossibility 
of man ever to equal its sublimity and harmony. These 
are inspirations which heaven does not give twice on 
earth. They are like the poem of Job, or the Song of 
Songs, the epic of Homer, or the music of Mozart ! It 
is done, seen and heard, and then no longer done, no 
longer seen, no longer heard unto the consummation of 
ages. Happy the men who receive this divine breath ! 
— they die, but they have proved to their fellow-crea- 
tures what man may be! — God calls them to Himself to 
celebrate Him elsewhere, and in a more powerful lan- 
guage ! These structures were beautiful and sublime, 
but the order and light of heaven — the two principles of 
all enduring creation — were wanting. Paul could see 
on the side of the city, by the sacred way, cut in the 
very side of the Acropolis, the religious population of 
Athens coming to propitiate Minerva, in which the ge- 
nius of Greece was consecrated. These temples were 
doomed to share the fate of the deities invoked within, 
and all lie like the everlasting trace of Grecian wisdom 
in the dust. 



J 92 



THK LIVES OP 



The imposing ruins of Athens in our days, as they 
lie scattered around, remind the antiquarian of her for- 
mer glory and magnificence. But that glory has de- 
parted now. The temple of the virgin Minerva, the 
protectress of the city, lies in stupendous ruins. The 
colossal statue of Minerva no longer rises in gigantic 
proportions above the other buildings of the Acropolis, 
like a Phaos, saying, " Here is Athens ! Here man has 
exhausted his genius and defied the future !" 

The land of Greece now is no better than the wind- 
ing sheet of a people ; it resembles an old sepulchre de- 
spoiled of its bones, and of which the very stones are 
dispersed and discolored by time. The image of the 
death which has passed over the ages of her glory, seems 
impressed upon this still and melancholy scene. Her 
ruins are repeating to the passing spectator for the 
thousandth time the epitaph of all human glory. " Here 
lies an empire, a city, a people, her philosophers, her 
warriors, her religion and her heroes. God alone is 
great, and the thoughts which search Him out and 
adore Him, are alone imperishable.^^ 

§ 6. PAUL AT CORINTH. 

From Athens Paul went to Corinth, a most splendid 
and flourishing city, where he is again joined by Silas 
and Timothy. This was a large mercantile city, very 
populous, and one of the most wealthy cities of Greece, 



THE APOSTLES. 193 

and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia^ and 
the residence of the Roman proconsul. It had two sea- 
ports, east and west. These made it a centre of com- 
merce and a kind of bridge between Europe and Asia. 
Ships from every sea came to her harbors, which made 
her a kind of universal market of the Greeks. Through 
her activity and trade she increased in wealth, luxury 
and profligacy, to which a new impulse was given from 
strangers who flocked to the Isthmian games, which she 
celebrated every other year. 

"Here first arose that sumptuous order of archi- 
tecture that still perpetuates the proverbial elegance of 
that splendid city of its birth, and the gorgeously beau- 
tiful style of the rich Corinthian column waving its 
wanton wreath." 

Corinth was also a seat of philosophy, art and gen- 
eral culture. The people had been given to great licen- 
tiousness, which was sanctioned by the worship of 
Venus. In the days of the Apostle^s visits, it was in 
its most "high and palmy state,'^ the queen of the 
Grecian world. The worship of various gods was here 
carried to great excess. It must have been an ex- 
tremely magnificent city, for Pausanias mentions in it a 
theatre, an odeum, a stadium, and sixteen temples. The 
high hill called Acro-Corinthus overhung the city, on 
which was erected the Acropolis or citadel of Corinth. 
This was one of the finest objects of Greece, and a place 
13 



194 THE LIVES OF 

of great strength. On the summit was erected the tem- 
ple of Venus, to whom the whole of the Acro-Corin- 
thus, in fact, was sacred. The Mountain of the Isth- 
mus upon which the Corinthian Acropolis was situated, 
abruptly rises 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
From this mountain could be seen the Acropolis of 
Athens, and Minerva's colossal statue, a distance of 
forty-five miles. This city was also well fortified by a 
wall with one hundred and fifty towers, some traces of 
which can be found at this day. The circumference of 
the whole city, including the Acropolis, was some ten 
miles.* The temple of Venus possessed above 1,000 
female slaves. The women of Corinth were distin- 
guished for their beauty ; the men for their love of gain 
and pleasure. They would ruin their health by convi- 
vial debauches, and love with them was only licentious 
passion. Venus was their principal deity. 

Jews had been found in most all other places of 
Europe, but Corinth must have been their chief place of 
trade. There number was also greater here at this time 
than usual, for they had lately been banished from 
Rome on account of their dispute about one Chrestus. 
Among these banished Jews were two natives of Pontus, 
Aquila and Priscilla. To these Paul attached himself, 
being of the same craft, tent-makers. With these Paul 
might be seen during the day quietly working at his 
'-•Anthon's Classical Dictionary, p. 376. 



THE APOSTLES. 195 

trade. Though Paul had a perfect right to live from 
the support of his Apostolic ministrations^ yet during 
all his missionary labors he supported himself with his 
own hands, and was chargeable to no man. It seems 
that at Corinth he did not at first very openly proclaim 
the full doctrine of the Christian faith, except among 
his fellow-workmen. Aquila wdth his wife Priscilla 
soon imbibed such a portion of Christian knowledge, 
that after their conversion, they became ever after useful 
teachers of the new^ faith. Afterwards he visited the 
synagogue on the Sabbath and reminded the Jews of 
the " mercy promised to their forefathers,^^ and of the 
"oath sworn to Abraham,'' which promises and oath had 
now all been fulfilled, and testified to the Jews and 
Gentiles "that Jesus w^as the Messiah.^' 

While thus engaged proclaiming Christ to Jews and 
Gentiles, his co-laborers Silas and Timothy returned 
from Macedonia. The effect produced by their return 
seems to have brought forth new zeal and energy with 
which St. Paul now resisted the opposition of the Jews 
who were already beginning to hem in the truth. 
Timothy, who probably visited Paul W'hile he was at 
Athens, had been sent from there to establish and build 
up the work of Christian faith among the Thessalonians, 
brought the cheering news of the earnestness, fidelity, 
and steadfastness of those Christians under protracted 
persecutions, mentioning also their zeal for extending the 



196 THE LIVES OF 

Gospel into Macedonia, even to Achaia. But at ^he 
same time he related also the erroneous ideas held by- 
many in reference to Christ's speedy return, which had 
produced in some a melancholy grieving over already 
departed brethren, as though death had deprived them 
from participating in the great blessing of Christ^s 
second coming. And he also stated that others on this 
account became careless of their temporal duties, and 
ceased working, and thus became a burden to the more 
benevolent; and unauthorized prophets inflamed this 
enthusiasm still more, until the prophetic gift became 
rather an object of contempt. 

§ 7. PAUL'S SUPPORT. 

The custom among the Jews, requiring every .one, 
rich or poor, to learn a trade, was certainly a good one. 
It is said, ^^He that has a trade in hand is as a vineyard 
fenced." The Apostle Paul, during his whole mission- 
ary life, neither received nor accepted any support from 
the churches which he organized, except from Philippi, 
which sent him several times presents, otherwise he sup- 
ported himself by working at his trade. Late at night, 
when his Apostolic labors for the day had been closed, 
the Apostle might be seen by lamp-light laboring at the 
rough hair-cloth, ^^that he might be chargeable to none.'' 
This he did, not because he had no right to expect a 
proper support from his labors, for he himself lays down 



THE APOSTLES. 197 

a rule by which all Christian churches are to be gov- 
erned. He supported himself, no doubt^ to show that it 
was not out of any selfish motives, but the pure love to 
Christ aloiie^ which constrained him to preach the Gos- 
pel. In this respect ministers of the Gospel ought to 
imitate Paul, and show that it is only out of love to 
Christ and immortal souls which constrains them to de- 
vote their whole life to the preaching of the Gospel. 

Paul may also have had other personal reasons for 
supporting himself; and, perhaps, felt it his special duty 
to the Saviour, because he had persecuted Jesus and His 
followers, who, in His infinite mercy, arrested him in 
his wicked course to ruin, thus to show" his personal 
gratitude to the Lord. He also had his Jewish oppo- 
nents, who were ever ready to charge him with selfish 
motives. His conduct in this respect was a standing ar- 
gument against them. In his self-denial he experienced 
that '' it is more blessed to give than to receive.'^ 

But what principle does Paul defend in this respect ? 
He does not lay it down as a rule, that ministers shall \ 
not be supported by the Gospel, but on the contrary he 
declares, '' that they which preach the Gospel, should 
live by the Gospel.'^ Though Paul was single during 
the time he preached the Gospel, yet, he says, that he 
had a right to take a wdfe when he pleased, and to ex- 
pect a maintenance for her as well as for himself; and 
impliedly for his children, if he had any. He proceeds 



198 THE LIVES OF 

by several arguments to prove his claim, and the claim 
of all ministers to a proper support. 1. From the com- 
mon practice and expectations of mankind. That those, 
who enter into any kind of business of the world, expect 
a living out of it, soldiers, husbandmen, and shepherds. 
It is very natural, and very reasonable, for ministers to 
expect a livelihood out of their labors. 

2. He argues it out of the Jewish law, showing that 
it is not only to common usage, but in accordance with 
the old law. God had therein ordered, that the ox should 
not be muzzled, or hindered from eating, while he was 
preparing the corn for man's use, and treading it out of 
the ear. But this law was not chiefly given out of God's 
regard to oxen, but to teach mankind, that all due en- 
couragement should be given to those, who are employed 
by us, or are laboring for our good. The laborer shall 
taste of the fruits of his labor. The law saith this about 
oxen for our sakes, teaching us thereby to provide food 
for our pastors also. 

3. He argues this from common equity. ^^If,'' he 
says, ^^we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a 
great thing if we shall reap your carnal things ?'' If 
we have done your souls good, should you then yet be- 
grudge us a proper support ? 

4. He argues from the wages they give to others 
who help them in their business transactions, and you 
confess their claim just, but who has so just a claim as I 



THE APOSTLES. li'O 

from the church of Corinth ? '' Nevertheless/' says the 
Apostle, ^^we have not used this power, but suffer all 
things, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ/' 
Paul and those with him had not insisted on these their 
rights, but had been in straits, to serve the interest of 
the Gospel and promote the salvation of souls. Though 
he, under the circumstances, denied himself this support, 
yet he strongly claims this right for others. 

5. He argues from the old Jewish economy. If the 
Jewish priesthood was maintained out of the holy things 
that were then offered, shall not Christ's ministers have 
also a support out of their ministry ? 

6. He asserts that the Christian ministry is an in- 
stitution of Christ ; and that it is the people's duty to 
support their pastor, who, by Christ's appointment, is 
laboring for their soul's salvation. The minister may 
waive this right; but they transgress the law of God if ^ 
they deny or withhold it if needed or desired."^ 

The minister is certainly entitled to a respectable 
support from his church members or congregation, that 
his spirit may not be depressed with cares caused by 
want of the nejessaries of life. Paul's own conduct is a 
personal exception to the rule which he lays down in 
this respect. The minister must not be avaricious, but 
liberal, or he will soon lose his moral effect. The Gos- 
pel ought to give him a sufficient support, so that he 

*See 1 Cor. ix. 



200 THE LIVES OF 

may be able to devote himself to study and preparation 
in his holy calling. 

Besides^ it would be well if congregations would 
pay their pastor a certain amount of money yearly^ for 
the purpose of increasing his library. This would cer- 
tainly be a good investment^ not only for the improve- 
ment of the pastor, but equally so for the people. 

The amount contributed for the support of the 
Gospel is far less than that for any other profession. It 
often appears that the temporal benefits and advantages 
of the body are regarded to be of more importance than 
the soul. It would at least appear so from the actions 
of many, who call themselves Christians, because they 
spend far greater amounts for unnecessary comforts, or 
ornaments for the body, (and would often be far better 
off if they had them not) than they contribute towards 
the support of the Gospel. The faithful minister is 
thus often left to suffer for want of the necessaries of 
life. No wonder that Christ said, that it was easier for 
a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a 
rich man — for an avaricious rich man — to enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. Were it not that the faithful 
minister looked beyond time and dollars for his re- 
ward, few would enter the sacred ministry, and the 
majority would often feel tempted to forsake their 
spiritual calling and enter upon some secular employ- 
ment, from which they would receive a much better re- 



THE APOSTLES. 201 

muneration. But Paul^ like all faithful ministers, 
looked for a crown that fadeth not away, which the 
Saviour will bestow when their work on earth shall be 
finished. Yea, '^ they that turn many to righteousness, 
shall shine as the stars forever and ever.^' (Dan. xii. 3.) 

§ 8. PAULAS EPISTLES. 

*^ The writings of Pauy says Bacon, '^ which have 
always been the great storehouse of Protestant dogma- 
tism, have been discussed and amplified in their history, 
scope, character and style, more fully than all the rest 
of the Bible for the common readers.^' Though Paul 
tells us that many things in God's plan of salvation are 
hard to be understood, even by the learned, yet we have 
many ^^ unlearned and unstable'' persons who not only 
in our time, but even in his time, according to St. Peter, 
already had the presumption to ^^ wrest to their own de- 
struction the things hard to be understood in the Epis- 
tles of his beloved brother Paul." Persons without 
learning or the stability of a true Christian character, 
have often undertaken to explain his writings to suit 
their own foolish sectarian bigotry. 

The manner in which the writings of Paul in the 
New Testament are arranged, has no reference to date, 
subject or importance of the doctrines taught. They 
are arranged according to the rayik and importance of the 
places and persons that were the original objects of their 



202 THE LIVES OF 

composition. The Epistle to the Romans is always 
placed first, because the imperial city to which it was 
directed, was, beyond all question, the greatest in the 
world. The Epistles to the Corinthians are next, be- 
cause Corinth was the nearest in rank and importance 
to Rome, of all those which were the objects of Paul's 
epistolary attentions. The Epistle to the Galatians is 
next, because it was directed to a great province, inferior 
indeed in importance to the two great cities before 
mentioned, but vastly above any of the other places to 
which Paul wrote. The Epistle to the Ephesians comes 
next, because Ephesus ranked far above any of the 
cities which follow. Phillippi was supposed, by those 
who arranged the canon, greater than Colosse and 
Thessalonica, because it was thought to have been a 
capital city. Thus all those Epistles which are ad- 
dressed to whole churches, are placed first ; and those 
which are addressed to individuals, in the same man- 
ner form a class by themselves; that to Timothy being 
placed first of these, because he was the most eminent 
of all the Apostle's assistants, — Titus being inferior 
to him in dignity, and Philemon a person of no ac- 
count at all, except from the bare circumstance that he 
was accidentally the subject of Paul's notice. The 
Epistle to the Hebrews is last of all, because it is alto- 
gether peculiar in its character, addressed neither to a 
Church, nor to an individual, but to a whole nation, 



THE APOSTLES. 203 

being published and circulated for their general benefit. 
The circumstance, also, that it was long denied a place 
in the canon, and considered as a spurious writing, im- 
properly attributed to Paul, probably caused it to be 
put last of all his writings, when, in the course of time, 
it was at length allowed a place in the canon. This is 
the view which Michselis gives of the arrangement of 
PauFs Epistles. We will have something more to say 
on this point, when we come to speak of the Epistle to 
the Hebrews. 

§ 9. PAUL'S FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THES- 
SALONIANS. 

It was the erroneous impression of the Thessaloni- 
ans in reference to the speedy coming of Christ, and the 
melancholy grieving over departed brethren, which 
caused Paul, while at Corinth, to write his first Epistle 
to the Thessalonians. This Epistle was full of recollec- 
tions from his own recent visit among them. In it he 
tells them that he had been greatly comforted by the 
good news received from Timothy, who assured him 
that they as greatly desired to see him as he them. He 
commends this church for its virtues ; comforts those 
who were troubled about the fate of their departed ; as- 
suring them that the living at Christ's second coming 
would have no advantage over the departed, because the 
dead in Christ would rise first. He also exhorts the 



204 THE LIVES OF 

impatient to be industrious, to walk in the light, to be 
honest in business transactions, and always ready to 
meet the Lord, who will come as a thief in the night ; 
and further warns them against calculating the day and 
the hour of His coming. He concludes his Epistle by 
an affectionate salutation and requests tl.em to pray for 
him, fearing, no doubt, a coming persecution, and sol- 
emnly charging them to read this letter to all the breth- 
ren of the church.* 

The strong expressions used in this letter concerning 
the malice of the Jews, lead us to suppose that St. 
Paul was not only thinking of past opposition at Thes- 
salonica, but of the difficulties with which they were 
beginning to surround him at Corinth. For the very 
time of his writing he had been disallowed to preach in 
the synagogue, but, shaking the dust off his garment — 
which was equivalent to a denunciation of woe — he de- 
clared unto them ^^Your blood be upon your own 
heads. .... I will henceforth go to the Gentiles.'^ He 
then left the synagogue and held his meetings in the 
abode of one Justus, a proselyte of the gate, whose house 
was joined to the synagogue. After this open schism 
had taken place, the Church rapidly increased, and 
many of the Corinthians began to believe when they 

■*This ICpistle was not written from Athens, but from Cor- 
inth, as the inner contents will show. The error, in the New 
Testament postscript, was probably committed by snme igno- 
rant copyist who did not understand the words m hich he 
transcribed. 



THE APOSTLES. 205 

heard the truth of the Gospel^ and came to receive 
baptism. He tells us, however, that few of the philoso- 
phers, nobles, or great ones believed, but many of the 
most profligate and weak of the world were chosen to 
confound the wdse and the strong. The conversion of 
Crispus, the '' ruler of the synagogue," however, was an 
exception to the general rule. The baptism of Crispus, 
with his whole family, by the hands of Paul, and of a 
certain Gains, and the family of Stephanus, must have 
greatly exasperated the Jews against the Apostle. 

The work of baptizing was generally performed by 
his assistants, because here the personal character of the 
individual falls out of view, while preaching, which 
founds the Church, requires special gifts, and personal 
character becomes prominent. 

And now, as heretofore, his own countrymen rose up 
in scornful opposition against him, blaspheming as they 
did in the days of Christ. The Jews became so much 
exasperated against Paul that when he thought of him- 
self he feared and trembled, and notwithstanding his 
success, he began somewhat to hesitate in his labors. 
But he received a new impulse from a night vision, in 
which the Lord Jesus appeared unto him, saying, ^^Fear 
not, but speak, and hold not thy peace ; for I am with 
thee, and no one shall hurt thee. For I have much 
people in this city.'' Encouraged by this circumstance 
he continued in Corinth one year and six months, faith- 



206 THE LIVES OF 

fully teaching and preaching the doctrine of faith as it is 
in Jesus. 

§ 10. PAULAS SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 
THESSALONIANS. 

Not long after this occurrence Paul found it neces- 
sary to write his second Epistle to the Thessalonians. 
The excitement which he had endeavored to allay by 
his first letter, about the second coming of the Lord, 
was not arrested^ but still continued to be the great 
trouble among the Thessalonian Christians. His first 
Epistle had also been misrepresented as well as misun- 
derstood. True, the early Church, and even the Apos- 
tles themselves, expected their Lord's second coming in 
that very generation. Some of Paul's disciples at Thes- 
salonica inferred that if the world was soon to come to 
an end, it was useless to pursue their employments any 
longer. They even left their work and gave themselves 
up to dreamy expectations of the future. The whole 
framew^ork of the Thessalonian Church was in danger of 
dissolution. They supported this delusion by imagi- 
nary revelations of the Spirit, and had even recourse to 
forgery, and circulated a letter purporting to be written 
by St. Paul, in confirmation of their erroneous view^s. 
To check this evil Paul addressed to them the second 
Epistle, reminding them of certain signs which must 
take place before the second advent, of which he had 



THE APOSTLES. 207 

told them when yet in their midst; exhorting them to 
remain steadfast and to pray for him, and to be orderly. 
He also advised them how to deal with the disobedient, 
referring to his own life as a pattern for them to imi- 
tate. And finally he salutes them and wishes them the 
blessing of God. 

Such was the second letter written from Corinth to 
the Thessalonians. The rapid progress of the Gospel 
at Corinth exasperated the Jews so much that when the 
new Governor, Gallio, arrived, they ^^made insurrection 
with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the 
judgment seat, saying, ^ This fellow persuadeth men to 
worship God contrary to law.' '^ But before Paul could 
open his mouth in reply, Gallio, a man of great kind- 
ness, wisely dismissed the complaint as not coming un- 
der his jurisdiction, and drove the Jews from the judg- 
ment seat. The heathens, who had never the best feel- 
ings towards the Jews, took Sosthenes, the ruler of the 
synagogue, who had probably been most active in the 
persecution ol Paul, and gave him a beating in the court 
before he could move off from the tribunal. Gallio took 
no notice of this action whatever, which seems to indi- 
cate that he was much displeased with the Jews, and 
rather sympathized with Paul, or he would have pun- 
ished these Greeks for thumping him with their fists as he 
passed along. For this seems to be the meaning of 
beating him*' Any thing more the pro-consul \youM 



208 THE LIVES OF 

hardly have allowed. This must have greatly exas- 
perated the Jews and made them more unpopular, while 
it brought Paul into general notice^ and Gallio obtained 
a high popularity among the Greeks, and Paul was en- 
abled to pursue his labors in safety. If the result had 
been otherwise, the whole Christian Church there might 
have been in jeopardy. The result of this storm gave shel- 
ter to the infant Church, and Paul's credit rose with the 
disgrace of his opponents. This city was a very im- 
portant point, on account of its commerce, from which 
the Gospel could easily be communicated to other parts 
of the world. He himself, while here, may have gone to 
other points and established Churches, making Corinth 
the centre of his operations. 

After this storm Paul tarried there yet a good while, 
and gathered much people into the Church without any 
further disturbance from the Jews. Thus his assurance 
in the vision was abundantly fulfilled. Though he had 
bitter enemies, yet no one was allowed to injure him. 
At length the time came when he thought it right to 
leave Achaia and revisit Judea, in order that he might 
be present at one of the great Jewish festivals at Jeru- 
salem. S in the Spring of A. D. 54, after bidding the 
brethren farewell, he left and journeyed back to the 
East, ^iiiese brethren he could have told, as he after- 
wards told those at Miletus, that he had taught them 
^^ publicly and from house to house,'' and that he was 



THE APOSTLES. 209 

"pure from the blood of all men/' and that " for the 
space of one year and a half he had not ceased to warn 
every one, night aud day, with tears/' He might have 
forewarned them of "grievous wolves entering in among 
them, of men speaking perverse things arising of them- 
selves, to draw away disciples after them/' And he 
could appeal to them, with the emphatic gestures of 
"those hands" which had labored at Corinth, in proof 
that he had "coveted no man's gold or silver." Thus 
he no doubt departed, with prayers and tears from those 
who "accompanied him to the ship," with many misgiv- 
ings that they might "see his face no more."* 

§ 11. PAUL'S FOURTH JOURNEY TO 
JERUSALEM. 

Paul with Priscilla and Aquila now left Corinth, 
journeying back to Asia, from which he had been 
absent about three years. In going East he came to 
Cenchreae, the sea port of Corinth, about seven miles 
east of the city. Here he cut off his hair, which he had 
left to grow on account of a vow which he had made 
"sometime before, in conformity with the common 
Jewish custom of thus giving force to their own sense of 
gratitude for the accomplishment of any desired object. 
He had vowed to let his hair grow until some unknown 
end was attained, and now, having seen the prayers 

'•Conybeare and Howson, p. 366. 

14 



210 THE I.IVE8 OF 

which sanctioned that vow granted, he cut off his hair 
in token of the joyful completion of the enterprise on 
which he had thus solemnly and formally invoked the 
blessing of heaven/' Though it is not positively known 
what this vow was, yet we may suppose, and no doubt 
justly, that it had reference to the success which fol- 
lowed his labors in the West, or perhaps to his safe 
deliverance from the dangers and trials with Avhich he 
was surrounded. Or it may have had reference both to 
the happy achievements of his great Western enterprise 
and the safe deliverance from the trials and dangers to 
which he was exposed since he had sailed from the 
western coast of Asia Minor. 

Some think it was a vow w^hich Aquila had made, 
but from the original structure of the sentence we think 
it refers to Paul. From Cenchreae he sailed to Ephe- 
sus, a great city in Asia Minor, which he had not yet 
visited, though he had been at other places around it, 
but had been directed in a vision to go elsewhere. At 
Ephesus he had only intended to make a mere call, but 
visited the synagogue and discoursed with the Jews. 
Here he was well received. They even earnestly re- 
quested him to prolong his stay among them, but he ex- 
cused himself, saying, ^^I must by all means keep this 
coming feast at Jerusalem ; but I will return to you, 
God willing.^' Here he left his two friends, Aquila and 
Priscilla, bidding them farewell. He left Ephesus and 



THE APOSTLES. 211 

came to Cesarea, on the coast of Palestine. Thence he 
went to Jerusalem, to salute the Church. What may 
have been the design of his visit to Jerusalem we are 
not told. Luke's account of it is exceedingly brief, but 
the visit was very short, and probably failed of success. 
If we are allowed to venture an opinion in regard to his 
anxiety of going to Jerusalem, we would say that he 
went there to give his brethren a full statement of all 
the interesting particulars connected with his long and 
remarkable mission in Macedonia and Greece. 

From Jerusalem he went back to Antioch, probably 
by sea, the place from whence he had started about three 
years before. 



212 THE LIVES OF 



CHAPTER IV. 



Paul's Third Missionary Tour. 



§ 1. PAUL AND APOLLOS. 

Paul did not immediately after his return from Je- 
rusalem go to Epbesus, but spent some time in Antioch, 
after which he visited the congregations in the different 
districts of Asia Minor^ where he had been preaching 
the Gospel before. This may have been necessary on 
account of liealing divisions which some of the trouble- 
some Judaizing Christians had formerly created and 
were still trying to effect. Perhaps he also went there 
to gather up some collections which he had requested 
them to give for the poor Christians in Judea, as had 
been agreed in the Apostolic Council at Jerusalem. 
(Gal. ii. 10.) The exact route which he followed at 
this time cannot be determined ; neither are his com- 
panions named. Silas had remained at Jerusalem, 
where he was formerly in high repute, and is no more 
mentioned as a companion of Paul, but Timothy seems 
to have accompanied him in all this journey. What 
other companions attended him from Antioch, if any, 
we are not able to say. He, no doubt, visited all his 



THE APOSTJ.ES. 213 

former congregations^ which brought Timothy to his 
native city, Lystra, and himself, probably, to Tarsus, 
his native home. Luke only says tliat after having 
spent some time at Antioch, "he departed, and went 
over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, 
strengthening all the disciples.'' While Paul was mak- 
ing this journey, a man came to Ephesus from Alexan- 
dria, in Egypt, named Apollos, who had been well 
trained in the rhetorical schools of the Nile. 

Alexandria was a famous city of Egypt, and long 
the grand seat of commerce and w^ealth. The city was 
built bv Alexander the Great, B. C. 331, and was 
situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Lake 
Moeris. It was formerly very renowned for its beauty 
and great learning, but no less for its commerce and 
wealth. It had two great streets running through the 
whole length of the city, two thousand feet wide, in- 
tersecting each other at right angles, which formed a 
square of half a league in circumference. From this 
centre could be seen the ships arriving, both north and 
south. In these two streets stood their most magnifi- 
cent palaces, temples, and public buildings, which the 
eye never tired of admiring. Here the Hellenistic 
Jews made the Avell-known Greek translation of the 
Old Testament, called the Septuagint. In this city of 
the Nile were the great rhetorical schools in which 
Apollos received his training. But though having 



214 THE LIVES OP 

been endued with the powerful eloquence of a Greek 
orator, the subject of his study and his teaching were 
the Holy Scriptures of his forefathers. The character 
which he bore in the synagogue was that of a man 
^^ mighty in the Scriptures.'^ But he was only a disci- 
ple of John the Baptist, and had only been baptized 
with the baptism of repentance, yet he boldly taught in 
the synagogue that the time of the coming of the 
Messiah was at hand. This must have excited intense 
interest among the members of the synagogue. Aquila 
and Priscilla, whom Paul had left at Ephesus, made his 
acquaintance and found him, like every learned man, 
very ready to learn, and to embrace the whole truth, 
even from his inferiors. After having been properly 
instructed in the Christian truth, he at once professed 
his faith in Jesus Christ, and thus replenished, he re- 
entered the synagogue, and now proclaimed with force 
and eloquence that Jesus was the Messiah. After 
having thus taught for some time at Ephesus he left for 
Corinth, the brethren giving him letters of recommenda- 
tion. On his arrival there, he threw himself among 
those Jews who had rejected Paul's preaching, and 
proved, with great power of reasoning, that Jesus, 
who was crucified at Jerusalem, and whom Paul was 
preaching, was indeed the Messiah. By his earnest and 
faithful labors he proved himself a valuable aid to 
those who had already believed through the "grace of 



THJE APOSTLES. 215 

God/' He thus watered where Paul had planted, but 
at the same time a party spirit was also built up, and 
he became the unwilling rival of Paul. While Apollos 
was thus engaged in preaching the Gospel at Corinth, 
Paul returned from his visiting tour through Asia 
Minor to Ephesus, where he likely met his two friends 
again, Aquila and Priscilla. They were here at least, 
and sent salutations when Paul wrote his first Epistle to 
the Corinthians. It is very probable that they worked 
together again at their trade. 

§ 2. PAUL AT EPHESUS. 

At Ephesus Paul was at first engaged in perfecting 
and uniting the results of irregular efforts made by dif- 
ferent persons. Here he found about twelve men, dis- 
ciples, who knew very little of the doctrine Paul had 
been preaching. One of his first questions to them was, 
'' Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?'' 
They replied that they had not even "heard whether 
there be any Holy Ghost.'' And he said unto them, 
"unto what, then, were ye baptized?" And they said 
"unto John's baptism," upon which he assured them of 
the incompleteness of that revelation of truth, saying, 
"John truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, 
telling the people that they must believe on him that 
should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ." After 
hearing this they all consented to receive the baptism of 



216 THE LIVES OP 

Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, 
they all received the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with tongues and prophesied. After this Paul went 
into the synagogue, and no doubt with his usual zeal 
and energy disputed boldly with the Jews, urging upon 
all the doctrine of the new revelation concerning the 
Kingdom of God. This he did for three months, until 
the Jews publicly calumniated his doctrine, when he 
turned to the Gentiles, who were more willing to receive 
the truth, after which he separated the disciples from 
the synagogue and entered with the Church the lecture- 
room of one Tyrannus, probably a Grecian philosopher, 
who had likely been converted through Paul, where he 
continued to teach for two years, until his fame became 
widely known, " so that ali they who dwelt in Asia heard 
the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles,^^ 
and a large Church was here established. 

Ephesus was one of the most renowned cities of Asia 
Minor, made especially so on account of its worship paid 
to the great goddess Diana, and its superstition and 
practice of magic. Here ^^God wrought special mira- 
cles by the hands of Paul ; so that from his body were 
brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the 
diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went 
out of them. ^^ These handkerchiefs or aprons were, no 
doubt, put on by workmen to protect their clothes from 
soiling during the hours of labor. We must, however, 



THE APOSTLES. 217 

not infer that the Apostles were able to work miracles at 
will. These miracles were only performed when the 
time and occasion required it, in order to oppose some 
particular superstition or sin. Such curious arts, or 
'' witchcraft/^ as Paul calls them, which were carried on 
at Ephesus, were severely forbidden in the Old Testa- 
ment, and he now warns the Ephesians that those who 
practice them could not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven. The effects produced by these handkerchiefs 
and aprons, brought from Paul, became generally known 
and were talked of in all Ephesus, as well as the cure 
accomplished by his pronouncing the name of the Lord 
Jesus. 

Here Paul came in contact with certain vagabond 
Jewish exorcists, who probably recognized him as a Jew 
like themselves, and, no doubt, believing that this power 
was transferable, they also made an attempt of casting out 
evil spirits by pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus 
over the possessed, saying, " We adjure you by Jesus 
whom Paul preacheth. There were seven sons of one 
Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests who did so.^^ But 
the evil spirit, instead of obeying them, cried out, ^^ Je- 
sus I recognize, and Paul I know ; but who are you T^ 
And straightway the crazy man sprang upon these seven 
sons with frantic violence, and beat them and tore their 
clothes from them that they fled out of the house naked 
and wounded. This was a striking attestation of the 



218 THE I.IVE8 OF 

triumph of Jesus Christ over the powers of darkness, 
and had a powerful effect on the people of Ephesus, and 
great fear fell upon all, especially upon those who had 
been practising such impostures, and the name of the 
Lord Jesus was magnified, and many who had been at 
great expense of time and money in learning and prac- 
tising these arts of divination, brought their costly books 
together and burned them publicly before all men ; and 
reckoned the cost of them, and found it 50,000 pieces of 
silver — not less than $9,000. This scene must have 
been long remembered at Ephesus, and stands out as the 
most glorious victory the Apostles ever gained over the 
powers of darkness in the heathen world. And hence- 
forth the teaching of the doctrine of Christ ^^ increased 
mightily and grew strong." 

Apollos had now probably returned to Ephesus and 
had much of joy and of sorrow to relate of the Cor- 
inthian Christians. For, no doubt, by this time many 
tares had begun to sprout, which at a later period threat- 
ened the destruction of the primitive Church, not only 
at Corinth, but everywhere. One difficulty had already 
manifested itself among the Christians at Corinth. They 
were fast falling into their former licentiousness, for 
which they as heathens had been notorious. The of- 
fenders against Christian chastity were exceedingly nu- 
merous at this period, and it was with the special inten- 
tion of checking this evil that St. Paul now determined 



THE APOSTLES. 219 

to make a flying visit to Corinth. This visit Luke has 
passed over in silence, but it is mentioned by Paul him- 
self in his Epistle. (2 Cor. xii. 14, xii. 21, and xiii. 1, 2.) 
This visit he, very probably, made in the beginning of 
his second year at Ephesus, which he describes as a very 
painful and humiliating one to himself. He afterwards 
tells us how^ he had ^^ mourned'' over those who had dis- 
graced Christ by fornication and w^antonness. (2 Cor. 
xii. 21.) Though many were guilty of great offenses, 
yet he treated them very mildly and reminded them of 
their baptism ; how they had died unto sin and risen 
uilto righteousness. But he did not exclude any from 
the fellowship of the Church which they had defiled, 
but w^arned them all, saying, " If I come again, I will 
not spare.'' The longest he could have stayed at Cor- 
inth at this time was probably not over two weeks. For 
afterwards in his Epistle to the Corinthians he says that 
he is not desirous '' novv of paying them a passing visit," 
implying that his last visit was such. But from the 
wicked fruits of future immoralities it seems that he ac- 
complished very little by his mildness. They charged 
it to his weakness and his fear of the oifenders. After 
his return to Ephesus he soon heard that the morals of 
the Corinthian Church were not improved, but that vice 
was on the increase. 



220 THE LIVES OF 

§ 3. HIS FIRST EPISTLE TO THE COR- 
INTHIANS. 

He now writes his first Epistle to the Corinthians, 
which is lost, wherein he stated that they should ^' cease 
from formal intercourse witli fornicators." This Epis- 
tle must have been very short, and was probably di- 
rected to this one subject only, otherwise it would be 
hard to understand why it should not have been pre- 
served together with his other two Epistles. (1 Cor. v. 
9, 2 Cor. vii. 8, and x. 10.) Soon after he had written 
this letter, Timothy, accompanied by Erastus, left Ephe- 
sus for Macedonia, probably to see the churches and to 
take up the collection for the poor Christians in Judea, 
intending, if possible, also to visit Corinth, but we have 
no record that he did. In the meantime some members 
of the house of Chloe, a distinguished Christian family 
of Corinth, came to Ephesus, and gave Paul a full his- 
tory of the state of affairs there. From him he learned 
that not only vice, but party spirit, had w^ell nigh de- 
stroyed all Christian love. Some Judaizers had arrived 
from Jerusalem, who were seemingly attached to Peter, 
the chief of the Apostles, asserting that Paul was not an 
Apostle, but a perverter of the Gospel w^hich he had 
preached ; thus adding new fuel to the fire of party 
spirit, which was already strong and dividing the 
Church. S'jme attached themselves to the Cephas party, 
some to PauFs, some boasted of their immediate con- 



TlJE APOSTLES. 221 

nection with Christy Avhile others again, the more 
learned, sought to form for themselves a philosophical 
Christianity, and called themselves the followers of 
Apollos. (1 Cor. i. 12.) It is highly probable that the 
Idst named were a kind of free-thinking philosophers, 
some of whom had even denied the resurrection of the 
dead, and adopted, to some extent at least, the sensual 
belief of the Epicurians, who made so much trouble in 
the primitive Church, whose motto was, ^^Let us eat 
and drink, for to-morrow we die.'^ One member had 
even been guilty of incest, and was not excluded from 
the Church. This was a crime, Paul says, which ^^was 
not known even among the heathens. ^^ (1 Cor. v. I.) 
Some he found who were carrying their strife into the 
heathen courts of law, as if no one in the Church was 
capable of giving a just decision in the case, (1 Cor. vi. 
1, 2;) w^hile others again turned their heavenly gifts 
into occasions of vanity and display. Women, even, 
had forgotten the modesty of their sex, and 'appeared 
openly unveiled, with heads uncovered, to address public 
assemblies, as even our strong-minded (?) women are 
doing at the present day, whose morality was then, as 
often now, of a questionable character. (1 Cor. xiv. 34, 
35.) The Holy Communion, even, was prolaned by 
"scenes of reveling and debauch.^' While Paul was 
receiving this information from some members of the 
house of Chloe, other messengers came from Corinth, 



222 THE LIVES OF 

bearing the answer to his previous letter, mentioned 
above, of which they requested an explanation ; and at 
the same time referring some other questions of dispute 
and difficulty to his decision. ^^ These questions related 
— first, to the controversies respecting meat which had 
been offered to idols ; secondly, to the disputes regard- 
ing celibacy and matrimony; the right of divorce; and 
the perplexities which arose in the case of mixed mar- 
riages, where one of the parties was an unbeliever; 
thirdly, to the exercise of spiritual gifts in the public 
assemblies of the Church/' 

St. Paul now, in his third year at Ephesus, and in 
A. D. 57, hastens to reply to these questions, and writes, 
what is called in the New Teastament his first Epistle 
to the Corinthians, but actually the second, in which he 
denounces the sins which threatened this church with 
destruction. We see here the most sinful inclinations 
of vice breaking out in the early Church, under the 
most pure and holy teachers — under the very eyes of the 
Apostles themselves. If it was so then, let us not feel 
discouraged if we find human nature to be so now. All 
the good seed sown in the early church did not bring 
forth fruit then, neither will it now. It was, no doubt, 
difficult to lead strictly moral lives under the corrupting 
influences of such a licentious city, where vice and im- 
morality had been carried to such an excess that Cor- 
inth had become a by-word among the Greeks. The 



THE APOSTLES. 223 

very word "to Corinthianize^^ had meant "to play the 
wanton.^' No wonder, then,, that Paul, who was to 
guide his spiritual children, under all these difficulties 
and adverse circumstances, was at times disheartened 
and. almost ready to sink under "the care of all the 
Churches/^ It is well, however, that under these diffi- 
culties God inspired His faithful Apostle to lay down 
principles for all future ages ; and that in answer to the 
heretics' denial of the resurrection, he gave us our 
glorious hope of immortality, which can never be 
shaken from the tree of the Christian's faith. In the 
concluding part of this Epistle he gives us some idea of 
his future plan ; namely, that he will visit Corinth 
after he had passed through Macedonia, and probably 
remain and winter with them. At any rate he did not 
intend to pay them a passing visit, as before. But he 
intended to remain at Ephesus until Pentecost, for he 
says, " A door is opened to me both great and effectual ; 
and there are many adversaries, (against whom I must 
contend.'') 

It seems that Paul had changed his former plan, 
which was to visit Corinth, and then pass through 
Macedonia, and take up his collections and bring them 
to Jerusalem, after which he " must also see Rome/' 
and even go to "Spain." He, no doubt, delayed going 
to Corinth, in order that he might give these rebellious 
members of the Church ample time for repentance, so 



224 THE LIVES OF 

that he might not be forced to use the severity of Chris- 
tian discipline with them. But for this delay or change 
of purpose he was severely reproached by the Judaizing 
party at Corinth, who insinuated that he was afraid to 
come, and dared not carry out the principles which he 
advocated in his Epistle. 

§ 4. THE TEMPLE OF DIANA. 

Ephesus was one of the grandest cities in the world. 
The temple of Diana was its most magnificent building, 
and stood at the head of the harbor, one of the seven 
wonders of the world. The sun in its daily course was 
said to have "seen nothing more magnificent than the 
temple of Diana.'^ Pliny states that 220 years elapsed 
during its construction. It was built of white marble, 
brought from Mount Prion, which is said to have been 
accidentally discovered.* All the Greek cities con- 
tributed to the structure ; even the rich king of Lydia 
lent his aid. 

Such noble deeds of liberality, though devoted to an 
idolatrous object, deserve not only our notice, but at the 
same time also challenge our highest admiration. But 

*A shepherd named Pixodorus was feeding his flock on the 
hill ; two of his rams fighting, one of them missed his antago- 
nist, and with his horns broke a crust of the whitest marble. 
The Ephesians were at this time in search of stone for the build- 
ing of their temple. The shepherd ran to his fellow citizens 
with the specimens, and was received with great joy. They 
changed his name into Evangelus (giver of glad tidings), and 
divine honors were afterwards paid him. Howsen, p. 463. 



THE APOSTLES. 225 

in the same night in which Alexander the Great was 
born, the foolish Herostratus set it on fire. The temple 
was, however, rebuilt with new and more sumptuous 
magnificence. The ladies of Ephesus even gave up 
their jewelry to meet the expense of building it again. 
We read of only one other honorable occasion on which 
men and women brought bracelets, earrings, rings and 
tablets, all jewels of gold ; (Ex. xxxv. 22) Avhen the 
religious zeal was so great that Moses was even com- 
pelled by proclamation to forbid any more offerings. 
(Ex. XXX vi. 6.) In our time what rich ladies of our 
cities would give their costly jewels for building a 
magnificent church, or even for an ordinary one in a 
place of need and destitution ? 

'^ The national pride in the sanctuary was so great 
that when Alexander offered the spoils of his eastern 
campaign if he might inscribe his name on the building, 
the honor was declined. ^^ The Ephesians could never 
cease to embellish the shrine of their goddess, but con- 
tinually added new decorations and subsidiary buildings, 
with statues and pictures of the most famous artists. 
This temple kindled the enthusiasm of St. Paul's oppo- 
nents, and was still the rallying point of heathenism in 
the days of St. John and Polycarp. In the second cen- 
tury it was united to the city by a long colonnade. But 
soon after the Goths plundered it, and as Christianity 
rose, it sank more and more into neglect and decay, till 
15 



226 THE LIVES OF 

at last it furnished material for Italian cathedrals. 
Thus the Temple of Diana saw all the changes of Asia 
Minor^ from the rich Croesus, the last king of Lydia, 
557 B. C, to Constantine, A. D. 300. Though noth- 
ing now remains to show where or what it was, we have 
still enough written memorials to give us some idea of 
its grandeur. 

This magnificent temple was 425 feet long, 220 feet 
broad, with 127 columns, 60 feet high, each the gift of 
a king. Thirty-six of these columns were richly orna- 
mented and colored. The folding-doors were made of 
Cypress wood ; the part not open to the sky was roofed 
over with cedar ; and the stair-case was formed of the 
w^ood of one single vine from the island of Cyprus. 
The value and fame of the temple was enhanced by its 
being the treasury, where a large portion of the wealth 
of Western Asia was stored. A German writer says 
that the " temple of the Ephesian Diana was what the 
Bank of England is in the modern world.^^ There was 
perhaps no religious building in the world in which was 
concentrated a greater amount of admiration, enthu- 
siasm and superstition. In time of danger the citizens 
put themselves under the protection of Diana by at- 
taching her temple with a rope to the city wall, which 
they regarded as a sure protection and safeguard.* 

The temple of Diana was built in that graceful 
Herodotus I.^ 26. 



THE APOSTLES. 227 

Ionic style which was there and then first matured ; 
that feminine beauty more suited the Asiatic Greeks, 
than the sterner and plainer style of the Doric, in which 
the Parthenon and the Propylsea of Athens were built. 
Though the Temple of Diana was magnificently beauti- 
ful, yet its shrine was primitive and rude. The image 
may have been intended to represent her as a deity of 
fountains, or rather as the religious life of all animated 
beings, as fed and supported by the many breasts of 
nature. The image made of wood, some say ebony, 
terminated below in a shapeless block. In each hand 
she held a bar of metal. The dress was covered with 
mystic devices ; the small shrine on which it stood, was 
concealed by a curtain in front. 

Diana was one of the tAvelve superior deities of the 
ancients. Her rude image was the object of the utmost 
veneration, and was believed to have fallen down from 
heaven. It was also the model on which the images of 
Diana were formed for worship in other cities. One of 
the idolatrous customs of the heathen world was to use 
portable shrines, or little models, which they carried 
along in processions from one city to another. On 
festival occasions the image of the goddess Avas put in a 
chariot which was solemnly consecrated, and called 
Thensa, meaning the chariot of their gods. They also 
carried these images along in war, and even had them 
set up as household gods. The material out of which 



228 THE i.ivp:8 of 

they were made was wood, ebony, silver or gold. The 
mysterious symbols called ^^Ephesian Letters'^ were en- 
graved on the crown, the girdle and feet of the goddess. 
These letters when pronounced were supposed to act as 
a charm, and were to be used to drive out evil spirits. 
" When written, they were carried about as amulets. 
Curious stories are told of their influence. Croesus is 
related to have repeated the mystic symbols when on his 
funeral pile; and an Ephesian wrestler is said to have 
always struggled successfully against his antagonist of 
Miletus until he lost the scroll, which before had acted 
as a talisman. The study of these symbols was an 
elaborate science ; and books, both numerous and costly, 
were compiled by its professors.^^ 

Demetrius in making these shrines used silver. He 
seems to have had a great workshop and many hands 
engaged, and carried on a lucrative business. And 
hardly a man would come to the great city of the 
goddess without buying and bearing away the image of 
the goddess and a model of her temple, as her worship 
was recognized by the "whole world. ^^ The making of 
shrines became therefore very extensive and profitable 
for Demetrius. 

The w^orship in the Temple of Diana was conducted 
by a two-fold hierarchy. The priests of Diana were 
eunuchs, under one head, who bore the title of High 
Priest, and was one of the most influential men of the 



THE APOSTLES. 229 

city. Along with these there was a swarm of virgin 
priestesses, divided into three classes and serving under 
one head. With the priests and priestesses were con- 
nected a great number of slaves, called ^'neocoros^^ 
or "temple sweepers/^ attending, sweeping and cleaning 
the Temple. The term sweepers was at first applied to 
the lowest menials of the sacred edifice, but it became 
afterwards a title of the highest honor. The whole city 
of Ephesus was sometimes called Neocoros. It is said 
that 1,000 female slaves attended in the Temple of 
Diana, of whose virtue we can hardly have a very ex- 
alted opinion. The Temple of Diana was called the 
"Temple of Asia^^ and the month of May was sacred to 
the glory of the goddess, and her festival was called 
"the common 'meeting of Asia.^' On these festive occa- 
sions in the month of May, came the lonians with their 
wives and children from all parts of the country and 
the different cities, to witness the musical contest and to 
enjoy the various amusements which made days and 
nights one long scene of revelry. A rich man from 
every province was elected, and out of their number 
ten were finally selected to discharge the duty of 
" Asiarchs.^^ These received no remuneration, but pre- 
sided over the games and had to bear the expenses, and 
often spent large sums for the amusement of the people. 
These Asiarchs or Chiefs were robed in purple mantles 
and crowned with garlands, and regulated the gymnastic 



230 THE LIVES OF 

contests, and controlled the tumultuous crowd in the 
theatre. These were men of high distinction and exten- 
sive influence, and might literally be called the Chiefs 
of Asia. (Acts xix. 31.) 

The great eifect which Paul's preaching had pro- 
duced in Ephesus very seriously injured the worship of 
the great goddess, as well as the sale of her shrines, and 
Paul himself had also risen very high in the estimation 
of the people, and thus obtained influence over the rich- 
est and most powerful men in the province. It was 
Paul's intention to remain at Ephesus till Pentecost. 
But in the meantime the festival of Diana must have 
taken place. It is therefore very probable that this reli- 
gious gathering took place to celebrate these Ephesian 
games during the month of May. The city would then 
naturally be crowded with various classes of people, and 
those who made the portable shrines of Diana, expected 
as usual a great sale and large profits at this time. But 
when they found that such sale had greatly diminished, 
and that Paul's preaching was the cause, ^^ no small 
tumult arose concerning that way." A certain De- 
metrius summoned together his craftsmen, among whom 
was also Alexander the cop])ersmith, and made a very 
inflammatory speech. Paul may probably have said, as 
at Athens, that we ought not to suppose that the deity is 
'Hike gold or silver, carved with the art and device of 
man/^ and that ^^they are no gods that are made with 



THE APOSTLES. 231 

hands/^ Such expressions would greatly injure the 
traffic. Demetrius appealed first to the interest of his 
hearers, and then to their religious fanaticism. He 
then told them that they were in danger of losing their 
gains, and that their goddess Diana was in danger of 
being despised, whom not only ^^all Asia/' but '^all the 
civilized world*' had heretofore held in the highest 
veneration. His speech had such a powerful eflect 
upon the artisans and the infuriated multitude, that all 
began to cry '' Great is Diana of the Ephesians/' 

This tumult soon spread through the city, and 
crowds of citizens and strangers rushed to the theatre. 
They did not find Paul, but met two of his companions, 
Caius and Aristarchus from Macedonia, whom they 
dragged along. Paul, fearing their dangerous condition, 
was only prevented from entering the theatre by certain 
of the Asiarchs, or Chiefs of Asia, (Acts xix. 3],) who 
were his friends. In this tumultuous meeting some 
cried out one thing, and some another, for the assembly 
was confused. Xever, perhaps, was the character of a 
mob more simply and graphically expressed than when 
it is said, that ^^the majority knew not why they came 
together.'' 

The Jews were no friends of Paul's, but fearing 
that, perhaps, they might be implicated in the odium 
which had fallen on the Christians, were anxious to 
clear themselves, therefore they "put Alexander for- 



232 THE LIVES OF 

ward^^ to make an apology for them, but with the mob 
it was no time to make distinctions between Jews and 
Christians. As soon as he arose, he was recognized as a 
Jew, and one simultaneous cry arose from every mouth, 
^^ Great is Diana of the Ephesians,^^ and this cry con- 
tinued for two hours. 

It required a great deal of wisdom* and caution to 
allay the fanatical passions of the excited mob. And 
no one was better suited than the " Town Clerk^^ to ap- 
pease this Ephesian multitude. These magistrates were 
men of great authority, and in very high public posi- 
tions ; they had to do with all the State papers, and 
were keepers of the archives, and read before the Senate 
what was of public interest; and were present when 
money was deposited in the Temple ; and w^hen letters 
were sent to Ephesus, they were officially addressed to 
them. The speech of this magistrate is a pattern of 
candid argument and judicious tact. He first allays the 
fanatical passions of the mob by this simple appeal, 
^^Ye men of Ephesus, is it not known everywhere 
that this city of the Ephesians is Neocoros, (a worship- 
per) of the great goddess Diana, and of the image that 
came down from the sky ? Seeing then that these 
things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, 
and do nothing rashly.'^ (Acts xix. 35 — 41.) He also 
reminds them that Paul and his companions had not 
been guilty of robbing the temples, nor of blaspheming 



THE APOSTLES. 233 

their goddess. Then he reminds Demetrius, that if he 
had anything against these men, the law was open, but 
that such aji uproar was in danger of bringing them 
under the displeasure of the Romans ; after which he 
dismissed the assembly. Here God used the wisdom 
and judicious tact of a Greek magistrate to protect His 
servant, as before he used the right of Roman citizen- 
ship at Philippi, and at Corinth the calm justice of a 
Roman governor. After the danger was over, Paul 
collected his disciples, most probably in the school of 
Tyrannus, and gave them his farewell salutations and 
commended them to the grace of God, and parted from 
them in tears. 

Though Paul found it necessary to leave Ephesus, yet 
he had done a work by which " the empire of the Prince of 
Darkness was shaken to its centre, the altars of Pagan- 
ism were overturned, its oracles struck dumb, its worship 
forsaken.^^ And soon that temple is leveled with the 
dust. 

§ 5. PAUL AT ALEXANDRIA TROAS, A. D. 57. 

Luke says very little of PauPs journey to the West, 
and of his labors there during a period of ten months, 
from the early summer of the year A. D. 57 to the 
spring of A. D. 58. (1 Cor. xvi. 8.) All the informa- 
tion Luke gives us we find contained in the following 
words of the Acts xx. 1 — 3 : ^^He departed to go into 



234 THK i.ivp:s of 

Macedonia, and when he had gone over those parts, and 
had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, 
and there abode three months.'^ Were it not for PauFs 
own writings, we should almost have a blank of a very 
important period of his life. But his Epistles bring 
him before us during this time in his joys and sorrows, 
in his weakness and strength, and show us the cause for 
the same. On this journey he visited Alexandria Troas, 
to which he probably went by sea, for so he returned 
the following spring. In those days, no doubt, the 
safest way to travel was by water. The ^^ perils of the 
sea,^^ though greater in those times than now, did not 
endanger the traveller's life as much as the ^^ perils of 
rivers,'' and the ^^ perils of robbers," which beset him on 
land. His companions in this journey were probably 
Tychicus and Trophimus of Ephesus, for they were with 
him at Corinth and returned with him again the follow- 
ing year. These remained faithful to him through all 
his calamities, and both are mentioned almost up to his 
dying hour as friends and faithful followers of the Lord 
Jesus. Paul spent some time in Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12), 
and w^ould have stayed longer had he found Titus there, 
whom he had sent from Ephesus with his first Epistle 
to the Corinthians, or soon after writing it. Titus, it 
seems, was to meet him at Troas with a report of the 
state of affairs, and of the effects produced by his Epis- 
tle on the Church at Corinth. But at Troas Paul 



TriE APOSTLES. 235 

waited week after week, but Titus caine not. The great 
question with Paul was, did his brethren at Corinth im- 
prove ? Or did they forsake the faith of their first 
teacher and reject his message ? While waiting here, 
he seems to have suffered all the sickness of hope de- 
ferred. He says himself in 2 Cor. ii. 13: ^^I had no 
rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother.^^ 
But while waiting for Titus, he was by no means idle, 
but preached the glad tidings of Christ, and says, "A 
door was opened to me in the Lord,^' and he succeeded 
in founding a Church, which rapidly increased, and 
which he again visited on his return to the East. 

§ 6. PAULAS SECOND VISIT TO PHILIPPI. 

From Troas Paul sailed to Macedonia, and came to 
Neopolis and immediately proceeded to Philippi. Of 
all his converts the Philippians seem to have been not 
only the most faithful, but also the dearest and most at- 
tached to him. In his Epistle which he afterwards 
wrote to them we find no censure, but much of praise. 
They were so much attached to the Apostle that they of 
all the rest forced him from the beginning to accept 
contributions for his support — once while he was at 
Thessalonica, and again while he was at Corinth work- 
ing for his daily bread with Aquila. And agam w-hen 
he was a prisoner at Rome they cheered him by proofs 
of their loving remembrance. This was not because 



236 THE LIVES OF 

they were rich, for he himself says that "in the heavy 
trial which had proved their steadfastness the fulness of 
their joy had overflowed, out of the depth of their poverty, 
in the richness of their liberality.'^ This Church had 
been exposed to very severe persecutions from the be- 
ginning. Perhaps many of her most prominent mem- 
bers were made to suffer from the charge of introducing 
a "new and illegal religion/' At any rate they did not 
contribute from their riches, but from their penury, re- 
membering the " words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
it is more blessed to give than to receive/' Lydia was 
perhaps one of the richest, but it is not certain whether 
she remained a permanent resident there. No father 
could be more kindly or lovingly received than the 
Philippians received their old teacher. Yet all this did 
not dispel the gloom which brooded over his spirit, 
though he even found Timothy here, his " beloved son 
in the Lord." The whole tone of his second Epistle to 
the Corinthians is a clear manifestation of the feelings 
which he had at Troas and even in Macedonia. "' When 
first I came to Macedonia," he says, " my flesh had no 
rest ; without were fightings, within were fears ;" and 
this had continued, says Paul, until "God, w^ho com- 
forts them that are cast down, comforted me by the 
coming of Titus." The trials and gloom which had 
made him so miserable was, no doubt, the " care of all 
the Churches," but especially that in Corinth. The 



TUK APOSTLES. 237 

critical period through which the Church was now pass- 
ing, and the fear that it might be dwarfed into a Jewish 
sect, not only at Corinth, but everywhere, caused the 
^^ fightings without/' which filled hira with ^^ fears with- 
in/' These were agitations which ^^gave his flesh no 
rest/' and ^Hroubled him on every side." 

At length the long expected Titus came to Philippi, 
and relieved him in a great measure of the agitation of 
his mind by bringing better tidings than he had ex- 
pected. The great body of the Corinthian Church had 
submitted to his requests and manifested the deepest re- 
pentance. They had also excommunicated that incestu- 
ous person, and had readily contributed in the collection 
for the poor Christians in Judea. There was, however, 
a number who became rather more hostile towards Paul, 
and seemed to have charged him with craft and mer- 
cenary motives. They may also have contemptuously 
hinted that the collections were not taken to the poor 
for w^hich they were given. The same narrow-hearted 
and contemptible Christian bigots we have now in many 
Churches, who very much fear that the contributions of 
Christians are never properly applied, nor reach the ob- 
ject for which they are given. But this is only a mis- 
erable subterfuge under which the hypocrites hide, whose 
heaits are not open to benevolence. Those same oppo- 
nents also accused him of vanity and cow^^dly weak- 
ness, saying that he was continually threatening, but 



238 THE J.IVEH OF 

never striking ; and promising without performing ; al- 
ways on tfie way to Corinth, but never coming ; as va- 
cillating in his teaching as in his practice; refusing to 
circumcise Titus/ yet circumcising Timothy; a Jew 
among Jews, and a Gentile among Gentiles. These op- 
ponents were Judaizers, headed by an emissary from 
Palestine, who had brought letters of commendation 
from some members of the Church at Jerusalem ; who 
boasted of his pure Hebrew descent and special connec- 
tion with Christ himself. St. Paul calls him a false 
Apostle, a minister of satan, full of dishonest and cor- 
rupt motives. It is also known that a Pharisaic faction 
was sheltered in the Church at Jerusalem, which con- 
tinually strove to turn Christianity into a sect of Ju- 
daism. 

§ 7. ST. PAULAS SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 
CORINTHIANS. 

This second Epistle to the Corinthians is different 
from the first, and a great part of it abounds in love, 
but it is also full of warning and menace. This would 
be accounted for by the two-fold parties, a majority and 
a minority, to which we had reference before. It was, 
therefore, necessary that Paul should notice the charges 
they had brought against him, and vindicate his Apos- 
tolic character. In this letter he lays a great deal of 
stress on and devotes a considerable space to the subject 



THE APOSTLES. 239 

of benevolence, with which they were then engaged. A 
collection for the poor in Jiidea was about being taken 
up in Macedonia and Achaia at the same time. The 
Apostle thought in this way not merely to fulfill the 
agreement made at the Apostolic Council held at Jeru- 
salem in the year 50, but more especially to heal the se- 
rious schism existing between Gentile and Hebrew 
Christians. He, no doubt, thought this honest and 
right ; because as the heathens received spiritual bless- 
ings from the Jews, they ought also to contribute of 
their temporal gifts to them in return. Being accused 
of mercenary motives, he suggested that they should 
send with these collections " whomsoever they should 
judge fitted for the trust.'^ Paul had advised a sys- 
tematic plan of benevolence, requesting that every one 
should lay aside, upon the first day of the week, what is 
devoted to God, in proportion as the Lord had pros- 
pered them. (1 Cor. xvi. 2.) The churches in Macedo- 
nia responded nobly to this appeal, and the brethren in 
Achaia did the same. What they contributed was "of 
their own free will,'^ and Avas not grudgingly given. 

In this Epistle St. Paul also refers to himself as hav- 
ing been caught up into paradise. Paradise means a 
beautiful garden of pleasure, where, like Adam in Eden, 
the saints are admitted to immediate communion with 
God in Christ, and allowed to participate of the tree of 
life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Luke 



240 THE LIVES OF 

xxiii. 43, Rev. ii. 7.) Of this blessed state St. Paul 
had a view and a foretaste. (2 Cor. xii. 2 — 4.) He 
states that he was caught up "to the third heaven /'and 
again, that lie "was caught up into paradise.'^ He, no 
doubt, was thus permitted to have a view into glory 
that he might contemplate the scene of that felicity 
which awaits the just after the resurrection ; and also 
that he might be content with its near consolation, and 
be enabled the more earnestly to press its reality upon 
his people. 

Titus returning to Corinth, probably to complete the 
collections in Achaia, takes this Epistle along. After 
his departure Paul continues in Macedonia to complete 
his labors, from which he had formerly been driven by 
persecution. He does not desire as yet to visit the 
Corinthian Church, whose disaiFected members had 
made him so much trouble and vexation of spirit. But 
after having attended to the necessary duties of the con- 
gregations in Macedonia, he penetrated into the country 
even so far as the shores of the Adriatic Sea, and "freely 
preached the Gospel of Christ round about unto Illy- 
ricum.^' This was a province lying to the north and 
northwest of Macedonia, along the eastern coast of the 
Adriatic Sea. (Rom. xv. 19.) How far he traversed 
that country it is impossible to say, but he probably 
came as far as what is Austria now. But at last the 
time came when he could say, " I have no more place in 



THE APOSTJ.ES. 241 

these parts/^ and went to look after his rebellious Church 
at Corinth. 

On his way from Macedonia to Corinth he was ac- 
companied by Timothy. How diflFerently he comes to 
Corinth from the manner in which he once went to 
Damascus. Then he went with all the power of the 
sword, breathing destruction against the Christians ; 
now deeply humbled in the spirit of Christ in all kind- 
ness and love. His speech contemptible, his body weak, 
he wields no carnal weapons to punish the body, and 
yet he wields the sword of Almighty God to punish the 
rebellious spirits of Corinth. Paul still had his faith- 
ful adherents in this Churchy who walked in the Spirit 
and not in the lusts of the flesh, and ^yho were created 
anew in Christ Jesus. Such were particularly Erastus, 
the treasurer, Stephanus, Fortunatus, Achaicus and 
Gains. AVhen he entered the city on his way to the 
house of Gains, he doubtless ^Hhanked God and took 
courage.'^ 

§ 8. PAUL'S THIRD VISIT TO CORINTH, 
AND HIS EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

On PauFs arrival at Corinth, painful news awaited 
him from Galatia by way of Epliesns. Judaizing 
emissaries from Jerusalem had also been at work in 
Galatia, as everywhere, trying to counteract his labors. 
He had much trouble to defeat this party at Corinth, 
16 



242 THE LIVES OF 

and now the trouble is in the direction where least ex- 
pected. Many of the early Christians had been Jews, 
though the number of Jews in Galatia could not have 
been large. Some of the heathen converts were also 
familiar with the Old Testament law, and upon these 
the Judaizers began to work. Many of these recent 
converts submitted to circumcision, and embraced these 
new party teachers with the zeal and energy they for- 
merly showed to Paul. To check this party spirit he 
now writes the Epistle to the Galatians. 

It was probably about the same time that he sent off 
the Epistle to the Galatians, that he was about to bring 
to a test his Apostolic power at Corinth, with those who 
said his writings were powerful, but his bodily presence 
was weak and his speech contemptible ; and that he was 
no Apostle. His first duty probably at Corinth was to 
silence and shame his opponents by proving the reality 
of his Apostleship, which they denied. This he must 
have done by a display of his miraculous power. Here 
was a contest, as between Elijah and the prophets of 
Baal. ^^St. Paul had already in his absence professed 
his readiness to stake the truth of his claims on this 
issue (2 Cor. x. 8, xiii. 3 — 6) ; and we may be sure that 
now, when he was present, he did not shrink from the 
trial. ^^ These disobedient ones were not only injuring 
themselves, but other members of the Church, and dis- 
graced the name of Christ among the heathens. He 



THE APOSTLES. 243 

likely now assembled the Church and considered the 
different cases separately, and punished the offenders, as 
was necessary, and handed them over to Satan, not for 
their destruction, but that they might repent and be 
saved. This, no doubt, had a good and purifying effect, 
for Clement tells us afterwards that the Corinthian 
Christians were distinguished for ^^ ripeness and sound- 
ness of their knowledge, for the want of which they were 
rebuked by St. Paul/^ He also praises the ^^ pure and 
blameless lives of their women. ^^ This would show 
that this Church was thus, for a time at least, wholly 
free from faction and party spirit, though in the latter 
part of the first century unchristian strife ao;ain mani- 
fested itself much like that which had at first arisen. 

§ 9. ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE RO- 
MANS. ^ 

At about this time, Phoebe, a Christian widow of 
Cenchrea, and a deaconess of the Church, was about to 
go to Rome on some private business, ^^ apparently con- 
nected Avith a law-suit in which she was eno^aged.'^ St. 
Paul now wrote the Epistle to the Romans, which she 
took along. The reasou of his writing to the Roman 
Christians at this time was, probably, not only to en- 
courage them in a sound faith, but also to prepare the 
way, and to let them know^ that now, after having fin- 
ished his work in Asia, and that part of Europe where 



244 THE LIVES OF 

he was laboring at present, it was his intention to preach 
the Gospel in Rome and even in Spain. (Rom. xv. 22 
— 24.) So that after the collections had been gathered and 
delivered in Jerusalem, he would come and bear evi- 
dence of Christ in the great city of the Caesars. Thus 
before his personal intercourse he desired to give them a 
proof of his affectionate interest, though they '' had not 
seen his face in the flesh/^ He was, however, per- 
sonally acquainted with many Christians at Rome, and 
saluted some twenty-six at the end of his Epistle, whose 
names he mentions, besides several households. Again 
he says, '^ The tidings of your faith are told throughout 
the whole world.'' (Rom. 1. 8.) 

The Roman Church consisted mostly of Gentile 
Christians. The founder of that Church is neither 
known in history nor mentioned by tradition. It is ex- 
tremely probable that Christians from Palestine, or per- 
haps such as had been present as the ^^ strangers of 
Rome,'' on the day of Pentecost, brought back Chris- 
tianity. Here was not so much trouble about Judaizing 
tendencies, but there was also opposition to the Gospel 
here, and some even charged Paul with maintaining the 
false doctrine, ^'that the greater a man's sin, the greater 
was God's glory." (Rom. iii. 8.) 

Judging from the many figures of heathen plays 
with which his writings abound, and the long time which 
he spent in their leading cities, Paul must have been 



THE APOSTLE^. 246 

an eye-\<^itness of at least some, if not of all the festivals 
and games which were so generally celebrated among 
the Greeks^ at least at Ephesus and likely at Corinth. 

§ 10. ST. PAUL'S FIFTH AND LAST JOUfl- 
NEY TO JERUSALEM. 

St. Paul leaves Corinth in the spring of A. D. 58, 
sooner than he had intended, perhaps, because of the 
Jews, who, though they had been sent away disgraced 
by Gallio, had now, as it appears, entered into a new 
conspiracy again and were lying in wait for him, proba- 
bly at Cenchrea, supposing that he would, as formerly, 
travel by sea from tliat place to Jerusalem. But, though 
his companions go by ship from Cenchrea to Troas, he 
passes on foot through Macedonia, visiting Thessalonica, 
Apollonia, Amphipolis, likely also Berea and Philippi, 
where he spent seven days. At Philippi he lingered 
longer, being among his dearly beloved brethren, and 
because it was the time of the Jewish Passover. Here 
he celebrated with his friends the festival of Easter, 
kept in honor of the glorious resurrection of his Lord. 
From Philippi Paul, in company with Luke, came to 
Troas in five days, where they abode another seven days. 
'' And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples 
came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them 
until midnight," ready to depart on the next day. The 
congregation assembled in an upper room, the night be- 



246 THE LIVES OF 

ing dark, many lights were burning, the place being hot 
and crowded. A certain young man named Eutychus 
was sitting in a window, and overcome probably by heat 
and weariness, sank into a deep sleep and fell down fron) 
the third loft upon the ground below and was taken up 
dead. This gave rise to loud lamentations. But Paul 
w^ent down and restored him to life again, saying, "Do 
not lament, for his life is in him." This turned their 
grief into joy. At Eutychus' falling asleep we need not 
be surprised. St. Paul preached all night, which would 
hardly suit our times, when all want short sermons, and 
many can hardly keep awake then. What would oe the 
result under long ones ? 

After Paul had again come up, and "broken bread, 
and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of 
day, so he departed." PauFs companions took the ship, 
while he spent a few more hours with his converts, then 
traveled on foot by a much nearer route to Assos, than the 
way by sea. Assos was a maritime city on the western 
shore of Asia Minor, south of Troas. The reason that 
he travelled on foot to Assos may have been in order to 
have some solitary moments for prayer, which he could 
not have in the ship. Closet prayer seems necessary for 
maintaining the religious life even of an Apostle. At 
Assos, Luke tells us, they took him into the ship and 
went to Mitylene, the capital of the Island of Lesbos. 
Here they lay over night, the moon being dark and day- 



THE APOSTLES. 24? 

light necessary to sail safely through these intricate 
places. The next day they sailed over against Chios, 
also an island near the western coast of Asia Minor. 
And the next day they arrived at Samos, another island 
on the coast of Asia Minor, and tarried at Trogyllium, 
a promontory at the foot of Mount Mycale, opposite to 
and about five miles from Samos. The next day they 
came to Miletus. 

§ 11. PAUL'S SPEECH TO THE ELDERS AT 
MILETUS. 

Miletus was a city on the continent of Asia Minor 
in the province of Caria, memorable for being the birth- 
place of Thales, one of the seven wise men of Greece. 
It was about thirty-six miles south of Ephesus. Paul, 
finding that the vessel would be detained for a few days 
at Miletus, sent for the Elders of the Church at Ephe- 
sus, in order to have another interview with at least the 
most responsible members of that Church. The joy 
must have been great at Ephesus when they heard that 
their friend and teacher was so near. They made all 
possible haste and came to Miletus, where they were 
probably gathered together on some solitary spot upon 
the sea-shore to listen, perhaps for the last time this side 
of eternity, to the parting words of him who had so 
long taught them in the school of Tyrannus, and had 
led so many to the Saviour. 



248 THE LIVES OP 

When they were thus gathered together at Miletus, 
Paul said unto them, "Brethren, ye know yourselves 
from the first day that I came into Asia, after what 
manner I have been with you throughout all the time ; 
serving the Lord Jesus with all lowliness of mind, and 
with many tears and trials which befell me through the 
plotting of the Jews. And how I kept back none of 
those things which are profitable for you, but declared 
them to you, and taught you both publicly and from 
house to house ; testifying both to Jews and Gentiles 
their need of repentance towards God and faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ. And now, as for me, behold I go 
to Jerusalem, in spirit foredoomed to chains ; yet I 
know not the things which shall befall me there, save 
that in every city the Holy Ghost gives the same testi- 
mony that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of 
these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto 
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and 
the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to 
testify the glad-tidings of the grace of God. And now, 
behold I know that ye all, among whom I have gone 
from city to city proclaiming the kingdom of God, shall 
see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to witness 
this day that I am clear from the blood of all. For I 
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of 
God. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all 
the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you 



THE APOSTLES. 249 

overseers to feed the Church of God, which He pur- 
chased with His own blood. For this T know, that af- 
ter my departure grievous wolves shall enter in among 
you^ who will not spare the flock. And froniyour own- 
selves will men arise speaking perverted words, that 
they may draw away the disciples after themselves. 
Therefore be watchful, and remember that for the space 
of three years I ceased not to warn every one of you, 
night and day, with tears. 

^^And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to 
the word of His grace ; even to Him who is able to 
build you up and to give you an inheritance among all 
them that are sanctified. When I was with you, I cov- 
eted no man's silver or gold, or raiment. Yea, ye know 
yourselves that these hands ministered to my necessities, 
and to those who were with me. And all this I did for 
your example ; to teach you that so laboring ye ought 
to support the helpless, and to remember the words of 
the Lord Jesus, how he said, ^'It is more blessed to give 
than to receive.'' (Acts xx. 18 — 35.) 

At the close of this speech they all kneeled down 
and united in the most solemn prayer for God's protec- 
tion on that Church which He had founded. Then fol- 
lowed an outbreak of grief, which even Christian faith 
and resignation were not able to restrain. Sorrowing 
most of all, because of the foreboding words which he 
had spoken, ^Hhat they should see his face no more." 



250 THE LIVES OF 

And all wept sore and fell on his neck and clung to 
him, and kissed him again and again, and accompanied 
him to the edge of the sea-shore. We may be very sure 
that Paul was weeping bitterly as he stepped on board 
of his vessel, and that sounds of weeping were long 
heard upon the shore, until its sails were lost in the 
distant horizon. The Elders of Ephesus, with heavy 
hearts, returned to their native city. O what a noble 
assembly of saints and martyrs was that, over whom the 
angels conld rejoice, whose spirits as suffering martyrs 
they soon conveyed from their earthly sufferings to 
eternal joy and glory ! 

From Miletus they sailed to Coss, an island in the 
^gean Sea, near the city of Cnidus. On the following 
day they came to Rhodes, an island and famous city of 
the Levant, perhaps so called on account of the abund- 
ance of roses which grew there. It is chiefly famous for 
its brazen Colossus, a gigantic statue erected in honor of 
Apollo, at the entrance of the harbor of that maritime 
city, and which was 150 feet high, and one of the seven 
wonders of the world.* The statue was hollow, with a 
staircase up the inside of it, by which a person could 
mount to the head of the figure, and by looking through 
its eyes, get a splendid view of all the neighboring 
islands of the coast of Asia Minor. Its cost of erection 
was $400,000. This famous statue stood upwards of 
fifty years across the entrance to the harbor, with a bea- 



THE APOSTLES. 251 

con light in its hand^ and ships seeking that port passed 
between its legs. At last it was thrown down by an 
earthquake about the year 224 B. C. 

It seems as if heaven had formed this isle as an ad- 
vance post on Asia. Any European power which was 
master of it would hold at once the key of the Archi- 
pelago of Greece, of Smyrna, of the Dardanelles, and of 
the seas of Egypt and Syria. There is, perhaps, not in 
the world a better maritime military position, a finer 
climate, or a more prolific soil. The Turks have stamped 
that air of indolence and inaction on it now which they 
carry everywhere, which puts them in a state of inertion 
and poverty. 

From Rhodes they came to Patara. This was a 
maritime city of Lycia, in Asia Minor. And here ^^ find- 
ing a ship sailing over unto Phenicia,'^ they went aboard 
and set forth, leaving Cyprus on the left hand and sailed 
into Syria, and landed at Tyre. Here the ship unloaded 
her burden. Tyre was a celebrated city and sea-port of 
Phenicia, of great antiquity and strength. Many cen- 
turies after its destruction the scattered ruins measured 
nineteen miles around, as we learn from Pliny and 
Strabo. This was one of the historical cities of the Old 
Testament. (Zech. ix. 3, 4.) Finding disciples at Tyre, 
they tarried seven days. ^^ These said to Pj^uI, through 
the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.'^ And 
when they departed, the disciples with their wives and 



252 THE LIVES OF 

children accompanied them outside of the city; and 
^Hhey all kneeled down on the shore and prayed/^ And 
when they had taken leave of one another, they again 
took ship and came to Ptolemais and saluted the breth- 
ren, and abode with them one day. Ptolemais, now 
called Acre, is a port and town situated on the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, on the confines of Lower and Upper Galilee. 
And on the next day Paul and his companions came to 
Csesarea and entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, 
who was one of the seven deacons at Jerusalem, and 
abode w^ith him. He was the one who had preached the 
Gospel first in Csesarea some twenty years before with 
such great success. Philip had four daughters, virgins, 
who did prophesy. Here the Scripture was fulfilled, 
which says, in the last times your sons and your daugh- 
ters shall prophesy. Here they tarried for many days. 

Csesarea in Palestine was situated on the eastern 
coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about sixty-two miles 
northwest of Jerusalem, nearly equally distant between 
Tyre and Joppa. It was formerly called the Tower of 
Strato, but the city and its harbor were greatly im- 
proved and beautified by Herod the Great, who dedi- 
cated it with games and other ceremonies in a most 
solemn manner and with great expense, to the Roman 
Emperor Augustus, and called it Csesarea. It was the 
metropolis of Palestine, and the residence of the Roman 
proconsul. It is often mentioned in the New Testa- 



THE aposti.es. 253 

ment. Here king Herod was smitten for arrogating to 
himself divine honors^ when flattered by the people^ and 
carried out of the theatre a dying man. Here Corne- 
lius, the centurion, who was baptized by Peter, resided. 
To Csesarea the brethren had taken Paul after his con- 
version and shipped him to Tarsus. ' Here the prophet 
Agabus from Jerusalem met them and took PauPs 
girdle and bound his own hands and feet, and said: 
^^ Thus, saith the Holy Ghost, shall the Jews at Jeru- 
salem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall 
deliver him int.? the hands of the Gentiles/^ (Acts xxi. 
11.) Here Paul was afterwards a prisoner for two 
years, until he was conducted to Roni^. But this noble 
city, which was the scene of many historical acts in early 
Christianity, is now a heap of massive ruins, from 
which building materials are taken for the building 
of Acre. Not a single human inhabitant is found here 
at present, only jackals and beasts of prey, which make 
the night hideous by their hungry cries. 

The announcement of the prophet Agabus had a 
powerful effect upon Luke, Aristarchus and Trophimus, 
Paul's companions on this journey, as well as on the 
Christians at C^sarea who had also learned to love the 
Apostle. They all wept, and implored him not to go 
to Jerusalem. But Paul, who could not be persuaded 
from what he thought w^as his duty, said unto them, 
" What mean ye to weep and break mine heart ? for I 



25 I TfTE LIVFS OF 

am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jeru- 
salem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'^ And when he, 
resolute against all entreaty, though ^^ bound in spirit/^ 
yet recognizing an inward guidance of the Holy Ghost, 
to meet his fate, could not be prevailed upon, they 
ceased their entreaties, saying, ^Hhe will of the Lord be 
done/^ 

'' He saw a hand they could not see 

Which beckoned him away. 
He heard a voice they could not hear 

Which would not let him stay." 

Even in his Epistle to the Romans, he beseeches 
those brethren, by the Lord Jesus Christ, to aid him 
with their prayers to God in his conflict, that he might 
be delivered from the disobedient Jews, and that his ser- 
vices might be favorably received by the Saints. (Rom. 
XV. 30, 31.) 

It was seventy-five miles, an ordinary three days' 
journey, from Csesarea to Jerusalem. That year the 
feast began at sunset on Wednesday, May 17th. The 
last day at Csesarea was on Sunday. Next day they 
departed for the Holy City, with hearts on which 
rested an ever-deepening shadow. Some of the Chris- 
tians at Csesarea accompanied him and brought him to 
the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple of 
PauFs, with whom he should lodge. 

During the Apostle^s whole journey from Corinth to 



TRE APOSTLES. 255 

Jerusalem, we see from first to last that there was 
something within him which whispered intimations of 
sadness to his heart; how his mind was occupied and. 
his spirit bound with sorrowful forebodings of the 
future. Behold, he says, ^^I go bound in spirit unto 
Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me 
there/^ And at last warned by the prophet Agabus, 
yet with all this knowledge and forebodings, the faithful 
saint goes to Jerusalem, calmly and resolutely, like his 
crucified Lord before, though doubtful of his reception 
among the Christian brethren, and not knowing what 
would happen on to-morrow. The whole journey of 
the Apostle from Corinth to Jerusalem is distinctly 
marked out and minutely described, so that we can 
follow him on the map from place to place, until he 
reaches the Holy City. 

§ 12. PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 

Luke says, ^^When we came to Jerusalem, the 
brethren received us gladly.'^ This was PauFs fifth 
and last journey to the Holy City, and took place A. D. 
58. This kind reception by the brethren may have 
somewhat revived the drooping spirit of the holy Apos- 
tle, at least for the time. But on the following day he 
and his companions went to the house of the Apostle 
James, who presided over the congregation at Jeru- 
salem. Here the presbyters were called together, who 



25G THE LIVES OF 

must be inet by Paul in order that he might set himself 
right and, if possible, overcome the hostile prejudices of 
the Jewish Christians, whose emissaries had made him 
so much trouble before, both in Galatia and Corinth. 
This was, no doubt, the very object and purpose for 
which he had come to Jerusalem. Before James and 
the presbyters of the Church at Jerusalem, Paul and his 
deputies from the different heathen churches, presented 
their Gentile offerings, and saluted them with the kiss of 
peace. Paul now addressed them, giving them a de- 
tailed account of all that God had done among the Gen- 
tiles by his ministry. And when he had finished, ^Hhey 
glorified the Lord.'^ But under all this outward har- 
mony lurked the element of inward discord, which soon 
manifested itself again. For in the Church at Jerusa- 
lem were some Pharisaical bigots, who tried to turn 
Christianity into a Jewish sect. Though these were a 
minority, yet we have often seen what trouble minori- 
ties are able to make in the Church as well as in single 
congregations. Besides these bigots there were many 
whose Christianity was very weak and imperfect, with 
whom the Apostle James could hardly got along. The 
same element of discord was probably found among the 
Elders which existed among the members of the Church. 
At any rate, these Elders began by calling PauFs at- 
tention to the many thousands of the Judaical party 
among the believers at Jerusalem and elsewhere, saying. 



THE APOSTLES. 257 

" These are all jealous of the law ; and they are informed 
of thee^ that thou teachest all the Jews which are among 
the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought 
not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after 
their customs." They further observed that it was im- 
possible for him, whose renowm was so great, to remain 
at Jerusalem without being recognized by those w^ho 
were violently hostile against him. They, therefore, 
recommended that he should take charge of four Jews 
of the Christian faith, who had a Nazarene vow on 
them, and accompany them to the temple, and pay for 
them the necessary expense attending the termination of 
such a vow. His friends probably thought in this way 
he could most effectually refute the accusations of liis 
enemies. The Apostles and Elders in laying down this 
rule exempted the Gentile Christians from the Jewish 
rituals, and held them only to what had been agreed 
upon in the Council of Jerusalem in A. D. 50. Paul, 
ever ready to make any sacrifice if he could win souls to 
Christ, as his life and writings most eminently show, 
agreed to this proposition, and took the men in charge, 
and the next day purified himself with them, and ^^ en- 
tered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of 
the days of purification, until that an offering should be 
offered for every one of them.'^ The nature of this 
Nazarene vow, as well as its regulations, are prescribed 
in the Book of Numbers, vi. 2 — 6. In that Book no 
17 



258 THE LIVES OF 

time is laid down as to how long such a vow was to 
continue. 

This matter was so decided by the assembly^ not by 
James^ though he presided over the meetings but was 
acquiesced in by both James and Paul, and was accord- 
ing to the principles laid down and acted out by Paul, 
who tells us tliat ^^to the Jews I became as a Jew that 
I might gain the Jews, and to the Gentiles I became 
as a Gentile that I might gain the Gentiles/' (1 Cor. ix. 
20 — 21.) And should he be successful by this outward 
compliance to harmonize the Church of Christ, a great 
victory w^ould be gained. And thus ended the meeting 
amicably with no open opposition, though it may have 
lurked in the bosom of some of those who w^ere present. 
When the seven days were over, Paul entered the tem- 
ple with his four friends, paid the expense and waited 
until the necessary offerings were made, and their hair 
cut off and burned upon the altar. The offerings which 
were required at the termination of such a vow we again 
learn from the Book of Numbers, vi. 13 — 18. Thus 
far all went well and Paul probably would have passed 
through safely, but for some bigoted Jews from Asia 
whom he had defeated there, and who had come to the 
feast at Jerusalem and recognized their old enemy. 
Here was an opportunity for revenge, which they could 
not have hoped for in a Gentile city where they dwelled, 
which suddenly presented itself. They sprang upon 



THE APOSTLES. 259 

him and held him, shouting, ^^Men of Israel, help. This 
is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the 
People and the Law, and this Place ; and, further, 
brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted 
this Holy Place.^^ They had seen Trophimus, an Ephe- 
sian, whom they supposed that Paul haH brought into 
the temple. The Gentiles w^ere not allowed to pass be- 
yond the outermost court of the temple. The sanctuary 
could not be crossed by an uncircumcised Gentile, and 
the transgression of such a law whs punished with death. 
This false charge excited the crowd still further, and the 
city was moved, and the infuriated multitude rushed 
upon the Apostle, and it was only the reverence for the 
holy place which preserved him from being torn to 
pieces on the spot. They now hurried him out of the 
sacred enclosure and shut the doors, and began to assail 
him with violent blows. And as they were about to 
kill him, either to stone him as St. Stephen, or, perhaps, 
to cast him over the precipice, tidings came unto the 
chief captain of the Roman band *^* that all Jerusalem 
was in an uproar,^' who immediately took soldiers and 
centurions and ran down unto them ; and when they 
saw the chief captain and soldiers they stopped beating 
Paul. The chief captain ordered him to be chained by 
both hands to a soldier, and demanded to know who he 
was and wdiat he had done. Some of the mob cried one 
thing and some another, that he could not learn who he 

\ 



260 THE livp:s of 

was or what he had done, and he demanded him to be 
carried into the castle of Antonia. To this castle Paul 
was now about to be taken by the soldiers^ the multitude 
still pressing after like hungry wolves after the prey is 
snatched from their jaws, and shouting, ^^Away with 
him !'' That is, kill him ! As Paul was thus led away 
he begged the attention of the tribune, saying, ^^May I 
speak with thee ?'^ Claudius Lysias was startled when 
he found himself addressed in Greek, and asked, " Canst 
thou speak Greek ? Art thou not that Egyptian who 
raised the sedition not long ago, and led away into the 
wilderness a band of four thousand cutthroats f^ This 
revolt had given Lysias much trouble until he had put 
it down. They had supposed Paul to have been the 
leader of that band, who had probably made his escape, 
but who had come into the temple and was now recog- 
nized by the multitude. To this foolish question Paul 
replied, '^ I am a Jewish citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia, 
which is no mean city, and I beg of thee to let me speak 
to the people.^^ The tribune immediately granted his 
request, and Paul waving his hand for silence, the peo- 
ple curious to hear were quiet. 

§ 13. PAULAS HEBREW SPEECH. 

St. Paul, standing upon the stairs leading to the 
tower of Antonia to which he was about to be taken, 
turned to the people. A great silence now followed, 



THE APOSTLES. 261 

and he began, saying, ^^Men, Brethren and Fathers, 
hear me, and let me now defend myself before you/^ 

When they heard him speaking in Hebrew, the 
silence became breathless, the people, no doubt, having 
had the mistaken idea that he was entirely of Greek 
habits. From the stairs of the castle with a vast multi- 
tude of heads below, and fierce eyes fixed in wrath and 
hate upon him, Paul, as a convicted renegade from the 
old Jewish faith, continued his speech, saying, " I am 
myself an Israelite, born indeed at Tarsns in Cilicia, yet 
brought up in this city, and taught at the feet of Gama- 
liel, in the strictest doctrine of the law of our fathers ; 
and was zealous in the cause of God, as ye all are this 
day. And I persecuted this sect unto the death, bind- 
ing with chains and casting into prison both men and 
women. And of this the High Priest is my witness, 
and all the Sanhedrim ; from whom, moreover, I re- 
ceived letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus, to 
bring those also who were there to Jerusalem, in chains, 
that they might be punished. 

^'But it came to pass that as I journeyed, when I 
drew nigh to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there 
shone from heaven a great light round about me. And 
I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, 
^Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' And I an- 
swered, ' Who art thou. Lord ?' and He said unto me, 
^ I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.' And 



262 THE LIVES OF 

the men who were with me saw the light, and were ter- 
rified ; but they heard not the voice of Him that spake 
unto me. And I said, ^ What shall I do, Lord?' And 
the Lord said unto me, ^ Arise and go into Damascus, 
and there thou shalt be told of all things which are 
appointed for thee to do. 

"And when I could not see from the brightness of 
that light, my companions led me by the hand, and so 
I entered into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a 
devout man according to the law, well reported of by 
all the Jews who dwelt there, came and stood beside me, 
and said to me, ^Brother Saul, receive thy sight ;' and 
in that instant I received my sight, and looked upon 
him. And he said, ^The God of our Fathers hath 
ordained thee to know His will, and to behold the Just 
One, and to hear the voice of His mouth. For thou 
shalt be His witness to all the world of wliat thou hast 
seen and heard. And now, why dost thou delay? 
Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins,' calling 
on the name of Jesus. And it came to pass, after I had 
returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the 
Temple, that I was in a trance, and saw Him saying 
unto me, ^Make haste and go forth quickly from Jeru- 
salem ; for they will not receive thy testimony concern- 
ing me.' And I said, ' Lord, they themselves know 
that I continually imprisoned and scourged in every 
synagogue the believers in Thee. And when the blood 



THE APOSiJ.Es. 263 

of the martyr Stephen was shed, I myself also was 
standing by and consenting gladly to his death^ and 
keeping the raiment of them who slew him/ And he 
said unto me^ ^Depart; for I will send thee far hence 
unto the Gentiles/ '' (Acts xxii. 1—21.) 

Here Paul was suddenly interrupted ; up to this 
point he had riveted their attention. They heard about 
his early life, his bringing up, his persecution, but when 
he mentioned that God had sent him to the Gentiles, 
one outburst of frantic indignation rose from the mass, 
and silenced the speaker. All yelled, '' Away with such 
a fellow^ from the earth, for it is not fit that he should 
live,^^ casting off their outer garment, and throwing dust 
in the air, the evidence of frantic madness. The tribune 
seeing that the discourse accomplished no good, ordered 
Paul to be dragged into the castle and examined by 
scourging, that they might make him confess who he 
was and what he had done to create this tumult. 

Paul was now on the point of adding another suffer- 
ing to that long catalogue of afflictions, which he enu- 
merated in 2d Cor. xi. 23 — 27. Five times was I 
scouraged by the Jews, thrice beaten with rods, once 
stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and day 
floating in the sea ; in perils of robbers both on sea and 
land, suffering from cold, nakedness, hunger and thirst. 
He had indeed suffered " above measure.^' 

While they were binding him with thongs, before 



264 THE LIVES OF 

laying on the scourge, Paul asked the centurion, ^' Is it 
lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen without legal 
condemnation?^^ This question stopped all further 
proceeding. The centurion ran to the tribune, saying, 
^^ Take heed what thou doest ; for this man is a Roman 
citizen.'' The tribune was both astonished and alarmed ; 
knowing full \vell that no one would claim the right of 
Roman citizenship unless it rightly belonged to him. 
For such pretensions, if false, were liable to capital 
punishment. Lysias now came to Paul, saying, ^^Tell 
me, art thou a Roman ?'' Paul answered unequivocally, 
Yes. Desiring to know how^ Paul had obtained this 
citizenship, he remarked that he had obtained this 
privilege by paying a large sum of money. He per- 
haps doubted the word of his prisoner, because he was 
apparently poor. But Paul boldly replied, "But I was 
BORN free !'' Paul had not bought it w^ith money, but 
he had obtained it in a more honorable way than his 
examiner. This positive declaration of PauFs made the 
tribune feel that he had involved himself in a very 
serious difficulty, in having violated the Roman law. 
All were aware of the nature of the mistake and left 
him alone. But Lysias was still compelled to keep 
Paul in custody, not knowing his oifence, on account of 
his Jewish persecutors. On the next day he loosened 
Paul and brought him before the Sanhedrim, which he 
had called together for his examination. 



THE APOSTLES. 265 

§ 14. PAUL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. 
Paul was now placed in the presence of that same 
council of which he was formerly probably a member, 
when St. Stephen was so unmercifully judged and inno- 
cently condemned and killed. He, no doubt, recognized 
many who had been his fellow-pupils in the school of 
Gamaliel, and his associates in the persecution of the 
Christians. Paul now opened his defense with an un- 
flinching look of conscious innocence, by which he of- 
fended the infuriated Sanhedrim, saying, ^^Brethen, I 
have always lived a conscientious life before God, 
up to this very day.^^ Paul's felt assurance of vin- 
dicating himself, so enraged the High Priest Ananias, 
that he commanded those that stood next to Paul to 
smite him on the mouth. Paul, indignant at such 
high-handed tyranny and abuse of justice, answered in 
honest wrath, ^^God shall smite thee, thou whited wall ; 
sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and then 
in defiance of the law dost thou command me to be 
struck?'' The other bystanders, enraged at his bold- 
ness, asked him, ^^ Revilest thou God's High Priest?" 
Upon which Paul replied, ^^I knew not, brethren, that 
he was the High Priest; for it is written, thou shalt 
not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." Whether 
Paul meant this expression prophetically, ironically, or 
in good faith, is questioned by some. Ananias had 
been deposed from the High Priesthood, and now had 



266 THE LIVES OF 

only assumed the office without a legal appointment. 
Paul seeing that no justice ruled in the Jewish Sanhe- 
drim, and that it was composed of Pharisees and Sad- 
ducees, who were divided by an impassable line in the 
deeper matters of religious faith, he cried out, ^^ Breth- 
ren, I am a Pharisee, and all my forefathers are Phari- 
sees; it is for the hope of a resurrection from the dead 
that I am to be judged this day/^ These words pro- 
duced an instantaneous effect, and roused the party feel- 
feeling between the two sects, and the whole council was 
divided and confused. The Scribes belonging to the 
order of the Pharisees, arose and declared, '' We find no 
occasion of evil in this man ; what if an angel or a 
spirit have indeed spoken to him, let us not fight 
against God.'' This language sounds much like that of 
Gamaliel, who, possibly, may have been present in the 
Sanhedrim, for he still lived about two years after this 
time. The last remark of PauPs threw down the 
gauntlet to the opposing parties ; the Sadducees, deny- 
ing absolutely the existence of spirits or angels, and 
could believe no part of PauFs story about his vision 
and spiritual summons. They broke out against the 
Pharisees, who now took Paul's part, and the party 
strife grew so hot, that the tribune, fearing that Paul 
would be torn to pieces, sent his soldiers and took him 
away by force, bringing him back again to his former 
place in the castle. 



THE APOSTLES. 267 

§ 15. PAUL A PRISONER AT JERUSALEM. 

After the violent excitement before the Sanhedrim 
had subsided, and Paul had been returned to the sol- 
diers' fortress, when his mind was no longer strung 
and excited by the presence of his persecutors, nor sup- 
ported by sympathising brethren, need we wonder that 
his heart began to sink and that he looked with dread 
upon the future ? Then it was that he had one of those 
visions by night which were sometimes vouchsafed to 
him at such critical moments as at Corinth, and after- 
wards in the storm at sea. So '' the Lord stood by him 
and said, be of good cheer, Paul : for as thou hast testi- 
fied of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also 
at Rome.'' But when morning was come, some forty 
of the most desperate Jews bound themselves together 
by a solemn oath neither to eat nor drink till they had 
slain him. The manner of the plot was to have Paul 
once more brought before the Council, as if to make fur- 
ther inquiry, when these desperadoes would station them- 
selves where they could make a rush upon him as he 
was entering the Council hall, and kill him, before the 
Roman guard could move in his defense. It would not 
need be known that the High Priest was accessory to 
the crime. But they did not manage their secret so 
well as was necessary for the success of the plot. In 
some way Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, 
who went and informed Paul. Paul prudently called a 



268 THE LIVES OF 

centurion to him, and requested him to take the youth 
with his message to the commandant, saying that he had 
a communication to make to him. The officer complied 
at once, and took the young man to Claudius Lysias, 
who received him kindly, and took him by the hand 
and led him aside, and asked him privately what he had 
to say. The young man replied, ^^The Jews agreed to 
desire thee that thou wouldst bring down Paul to-mor- 
row into the council, as though they would inquire 
somewhat of him more perfectly. But do not yield 
unto them ; for there lie in wait for him of them more 
than forty men, which have bound themselves with an 
oath, that they will neither eat or drink till they have 
killed him ; and now they are ready^ looking for a 
promise from thee.^^ Lysias, on receiving this account 
and thus learning the desperate character of the Jews, 
dismissed the young man with the strongest injunctions 
of the most profound secresy. He now made imme- 
diate preparation, not wishing to risk the life of his 
prisoner any longer at Jerusalem, to take Paul that 
very night under a strong guard to the Governor. And 
he called unto him two centurions^ saying, make ready 
two hundred legionary soldiers, with seventy horsemen, 
and two hundred spearmen, all well armed and mounted 
for speed, and depart for Csesarea with Paul at nine in 
the evening and take him in safety to Felix, the Gov- 
ernor of the province, as a prisoner of state. The sol- 



THE APOSTLIS. 269 

diers^ as commanded^ brought Paul by night, after forty 
miles hard riding, to Antipatris. This was a small town 
lying along the road from Jerusalem to Csesarea. On 
the following morning they left the seventy horsemen 
to go with him to Csesarea, while the mounted infantry 
and lancers returned to Jerusalem. He thus saved Paul 
from death, and rid himself from this difficult and peril- 
ous business. 

It would be in the course of the afternoon that the 
horsemen would come into Csesarea with the prisoner, 
which place was still twenty-five miles from Antipatris. 
They immediately went to the Governor and delivered 
up their prisoner and gave him the letter of the tribune, 
which was after this manner : 

^^ Claudius Lysias sends greeting to the most Excel- 
lent Felix the Governor. This man was apprehended 
by the Jews, and on the point of being killed by them, 
when I came and rescued him with my military guard : 
for I learned that he was a Roman citizen. And wishing 
to ascertain the charge which they had to allege against 
him, I took him down to their Sanhedrim : and there I 
found that the charge had reference to certain questions 
of their law, and that he was accused of no offence wor- 
thy of death or imprisonment. And now, having re- 
ceived information that a plot is about to be formed 
against the man^s life, I send him to thee forthwith, and 
I have told his accusers that they must bring their charge 
before thee. Farewell.^^ 

The Governor, after reading the letter, inquired of 
what province he was, and when he understood that he 



270 TITE T>IVES OF 

was of Cilicia, replied that he would hear his case as 
soon as his accusers are also come. And commanded 
him to be kept in "Herod's pretorium/' 

§ 16. HIS TRIAL BEFORE FELIX. 

After five days the High Priest and the Elders of Je- 
rusalem came down to Csesarea to prosecute their charges 
against Paul before the Governor. They brought with 
them an advocate named Tertullus, of Roman connec- 
tion, who charged Paul in very bitter and abusive terms, 
stating that he was a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedi- 
tion among the Jews throughout the world and ring- 
leader of the sect of Nazarenes, and a profaner of the 
temple. That Lysias had forcibly taken him away, 
when the Jews were about to judge him according to 
their ecclesiastical law. The whole drift of the speech 
was to persuade Felix to give up Paul to the Jewish 
court, in w^hich case the assassination could be easily car- 
ried out. To all these assertions the Jews assented, say- 
ing that these things were so. 

Paul was now called on to make his defense, which, 
after ex{)ressing his satisfaction that he could plead his 
cause before one so well acquainted with Jewish cus- 
toms, maintained that he was guilty of none of those 
charges brought against him, refuting Tertulhis step by 
step. He also stated that only twelve days ago he left 
Csesarea to go to the Feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem to 



THE APOSTT^ES. 271 

worship^ and maintained that he had not been guilty of 
any riotous conduct^ but had quietly come to the city on 
a visit, after several years^ absence, to bring alms and 
offerings ; and while going peaceably through the es- 
tablished ceremonies of purification, he was seized by 
some Asian Jews in the temple. He complained that 
these Asian Jews w^ere not present, and challenged his 
prosecutors to bring any evidence against him. 

After the hearing Felix adjourned the case, saying 
when Lysias comes down I will decide the case, and 
thus left both parties in the ^^ glorious uncertainties of 
the law/^ He commanded the centurion in the mean- 
while to keep Paul in custody, but to let him have lib- 
erty, and free intercourse with his friends. Thus Paul's 
imprisonment was merely nominal, so that he could pass 
his time pleasantly with his friends. Besides, he was 
also favored with the presence of several of his com- 
panions from Europe and Asia, through whom he could 
hold free correspondence with his numerous churches. 

Some days after this Felix came with his wife Dru- 
silla into the audience chamber, and Paul was called- 
Drusilla being a Jewess, was no doubt anxious to hear 
something of his faith which had " Christ'^ for its object. 
After Paul had reasoned on righteousness, temperance 
and judgment to come, the adulterous sinner trembled, 
saying, ^^Go thy way for this time; when I have a con- 
venient season, I will send for thee.'^ This is the uni- 



272 THE LIVES OF 

versal response ever since given to the Word of God hy- 
men of a similar spirit of sin and worldliness who feel 
the force of truth, but bid it defiance, and the more 
convenient season never comes, until the harvest is 
passed, the summer is ended, and their souls are lost. 
Thus he sent often for Paul to commune with him, 
hoping thereby to receive a bribe from him for his lib- 
eration. But Paul, with his great respect for the law of 
God and man, would scorn the idea of stooping to such 
dishonorable means; he would ^^ render unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that 
are God's.'' And thus Paul was kept bound at Caes- 
area lor two years. This may seem to us a mysterious 
Providence, in which two of the Apostle's best years 
were lost. But did he not perhaps need such recreation 
as when he was in the desert of Arabia ? Besides we 
know not, but he may have written different letters, now 
lost, to his congregations and still superintended his 
great missionary work. It is also very plausible that 
St. Luke liere wrote the Acts of the Apostles under his 
supervision. All positive information in reference to 
Paul's doings while a prisoner in Caesarea is wanting. 
When the wicked Felix was summoned to Rome and 
deposed from his office, he left Paul bound, perhaps to 
ingratiate himself and gain popularity among the Jews 
who went there to accuse him. 

When Festus, his successor, was appointed, he, try- 



THE APOSTLES. 273 

ing to gain popularity among the Jews, still kept Paul 
in bonds. Three days after his arrival in the province, 
official business brought him to Jerusalem. Here he 
was soon surrounded and pressed by the High Priest 
and chief men of the Jews to deliver Paul into their 
hands at Jerusalem. This they asked as a favor. But 
their real purpose was to assassinate him. Festus re- 
plied in a dignified manner that Paul was a prisoner at 
Csesarea, and that he would shortly go down, and those 
Avho had aught against him should go down with him 
and accuse him, ^4f there be any wickedness in him.^^ 
After having tarried some ten days in Jerusalem he 
went down to Csesarea ; " and the next day sitting in 
the judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought.'^ 
The charges at present were not different from those 
which had formerly been made, the persecutors being 
the same from the Sanhedrim. Festus, seeing that no 
crime had been committed, and that it was only a quar- 
rel about religion, and wishing to do the Jews a pleasure, 
proposed to Paul, that he should go to Jerusalem and 
there be judged under his protection. ^^Then said 
Paul, I stand before Csesar's tribunal, and there ought 
my trial to be. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as 
thou know^est full well. If I am gnilty, and have done 
anything w^orthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if 
the things whereof these men accuse me are nought, no 
man can give me up to them. I appeal unto 
C^AR." 18 



274 THE LIVES OF 

§ 17. PAUL'S APPEAL TO CESAR. 
This was, no doubt, a surprise to Festus, but Paul 
being a Roman citizen, had a right to appeal his case to 
Caesar. This suspended all further proceedings on the 
part of the Governor. Festus, after having conferred 
with council, replied, " Thou hast appealed unto Csesar ; 
to Caesar thou shalt be sent/' The Governor was, 
however, in some perplexity, though Paul's appeal had 
been allowed ; he did not know what statement to send 
along, or what charges to specify, being himself con- 
vinced of his innocence. Some days after king Agrippa 
II, and Berenice came into Caesarea to salute Festus, 
"and when they had been there many days," Festus 
made known Paul's case to the king, saying, "There is 
a certain man left in bonds by Felix," about whom the 
chief priests and elders at Jerusalem would like to 
have judgment. I answered that it is not the manner 
of the Romans to deliver a man to death before he is 
allowed to meet his accusers face to face, and have 
license given to defend himself. When his accusers 
came they proved nothing against him, except some 
questions of superstition about one Jesus, who was dead, 
whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And when I hinted 
about his going to Jerusalem to be judged, he appealed 
unto Caesar." This so aroused the curiosity of Agrippa, 
that he expressed the desire of hearing Paul himself, to 
which request Festus readily acceded, and fixed the 



THE APOSTLES. 275 

following day for the interview. At the appointed 
time Agrippa and Berenice came with great pomp into 
the place of hearing, with the chief captains and princi- 
pal men of the city, and at Festus^ command Paul was 
brought before them. Festus introduced the subject by 
stating that he found nothing worthy of death in Paul, 
and knew not what to write to the Emperor concerning 
his case. And that it appeared to him unreasonable 
to send a prisoner to Rome without being able to state 
the crimes laid against him. Then Agrippa said unto 
Paul, ^^Thou art permitted to speak for thyself.^^ Then 
Paul stretched out his hand, which was chained to the 
soldier who guarded him, and made the following decla- 
ration : ^^I think myself happy. King Agrippa, that I 
shall defend myself to-day, before thee, against all the 
charges of my Jewish accusers ; especially because thou 
art expert in all Jewish customs and questions. Where- 
fore I pray thee to hear me patiently. 

"My life and conduct from my youth, as it was at 
first among my own nation at Jerusalem, is known to 
all the Jews. They know me of old (I say) from the 
beginning, and can testify (if they would) that, follow- 
ino^ the strictest sect of our relio^ion, T lived a Pharisee. 
And now I stand here to be judged, for the hope of the 
promise made by God unto our Fathers. 

" Which promise is the end whereto, in all their zeal- 
ous worship, night and day, our twelve tribes hope to 



276 THE LIVES OF 

come. Yet this hope, O King Agrippa, is charged 
against me as a crime, and that by the Jews. What ! 
is it judged among you a thing incredible that God 
should raise the dead ? 

"Now I myself determined, in my own mind, that I 
ought exceedingly to oppose the name of Jesus the 
Nazarene. And this I did in Jerusalem, and many of 
the saints I myself shut up in prison, having received 
from the chief priests authority so to do ; and when 
they were condemned to death, I gave my vote against 
them. And in every synagogue 1 continually pun- 
ished them, and endeavored to compel them to blas- 
pheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I 
went even to foreign cities to persecute them. 

" With this purpose I was on my road to Damascus, 
bearing my authority and commission from the chief 
priests, w^hen I saw in the way, O King, at mid-day, a 
light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, 
shining round about me and those who journeyed with 
me. And when we all w^ere fallen to the earth, I heard a 
voice speaking to me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, 
Saul, Saul, ichy persecutest thou r)ie ? it is hard for thee 
to kick against the goad. And I said. Who art thou, 
Lordf And the Lord said, I am Jestis whom thou per- 
secutest But rise and stand upon thy feet ; for this end 
I have appeared unto thee, to ordain thee a minister and a 
witness both of those things which thou hast seen, and of 



THE APOSTLES. 277 

those things wherein I shall appear unto thee. And thee 
have I chosen from the house of Israel, and from among 
the Gentiles; unto whom noio I send thee, to open their 
eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God; that they may receive 
forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among the sancti- 
'fied, hy faith in me, 

'^ Whereupon^ O King Agrippa, I was not disobe- 
dient to the heavenly vision. Bat first to those at Da- 
mascus and Jerusalem, and throughout all the land of 
Judea, and also to the Gentiles^ I proclaimed the tidings, 
that they should repent and turn to God, and do works 
worthy of their repentance. 

*^For these causes the Jews, when they caught me 
in the Temple, endeavored to kill me. 

^' Therefore, through the succor which I have re- 
ceived from God, I stand firm unto this day, and bear 
my testimony both to small and great; but I declare 
nothing else than what the Prophets and Moses foretold. 
That the Messiah should suifer, and that He should be 
the first to rise from the dead, and should be the mes- 
senger of light to the house of Israel, and also to the 
Gentiles.'' (Acts xxvi. 1—23.) 

And as Paul became eloquent in speaking for him- 
self and mentioned the doctrine of the resurrection, which 
appeared foolishness unto this cold man of the world, as 
it did before unto the learned Athenians. Then Festus 



278 THE LIVES OF 

broke out in a loud voice and said, ^^Paul, thou art 
mad : thy incessant study is turning thee to madness." 
It is very likely that Paul, in his confinement here, had 
brought unto him the writings *of Moses and the 
prophets, the mention of which sounded so strange in a 
heathen's ear that he thought Paul was a mad enthusi- 
ast. But Paul, in a most dignified manner, replied, "I 
am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the 
words of truth and soberness. For the king has knowl- 
edge of these matters ; and moreover I speak to him in 
boldness, because I am persuaded that none of these 
things are unknown to him, — for this has not been done 
in a corner. '^ 

Paul then turning to the Jewish voluptuary, who sat 
beside the Governor, made this solemn appeal to him : 
'' King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? I know 
that thou believest.'^ 

To this appeal the king replied, ^^Paul, thou wilt 
soon persuade me to be a Christian/' These were words 
which we never could take, as some have done, for hon- 
est conviction, but rather of contempt, for the name of 
Christian was one of contempt. To this reply of the 
king's, Paul in reply uttered that sublime sentence: ^*'I 
would to God, that whether soon or late, not only thou, 
but also all who hear me to-day, were such as I am.'' 
And holding up his hand and rattling the chains, he 
added, ^^ Excepting these chains." 



THE APOSTLES. 279 

This speech of PauFs came home so close to the 
king, the Governor, Berenice, and the chief men, that 
they at once concluded the interview. But as they 
passed out and discussed the case, they agreed that Paul 
was guilty of nothing worthy of death, or even of bonds. 
Then Agrippa declared positively unto Festus, ^^This 
man might have been set at liberty, if he had not ap- 
pealed to the Emperor.'^ But from such an appeal 
there was no retreat, either for Paul or Festus. 

§ 18. PAUL GOING TO ROME. 

It being now determined to send Paul to Rome, and 
all things being ready, he and certain other prisoners 
were delivered unto Julius, a centurion of Augustus^ 
band, to be shipped to Rome. The companions of Paul 
on this journey were Timothy, Luke his historian, and 
Aristarchus of Thessalonica. They entered ^^a ship of 
Adramyttium'^ at Csesarea, and set sail along the coast 
of Asia late in the year A. D. 60. The following day 
the vessel touched at Sidon. Julius kindly gave Paul 
permission to go unto his friends to refresh himself. 
Sidon was the last city on the Phenician shore in which 
the Apostle's presence can be traced. It was distant 
from Csesarea about sixty-seven miles. It was a very 
ancient city, built about two thousand years before 
Christ, and greatly celebrated for its pre-eminence in 
arts, manufactures and commerce, and for the people's 



280 THE LIVES OF 

superior skill in hewing timber. They also had the 
most expert sailors in the world. As a natural result 
of these advantages the Sidonians became very wealthy 
and prosperous. But the city was especially renowned 
for its connection with patriarchal and Jewish history. 
The Sidonian workmen were hired by Solomon to pre- 
pare the wood for building the temple of Jerusalem. 
They are also said to be the first who manufactured 
glass. The city was called the great Sidon, "the haven 
of ships/' and the home of the merchants that "passed 
over the sea." 

From Sidon they sailed along the coast of Syria, and 
on account of contrary winds, along the Asiatic shores, 
between the Island of Cyprus and Asia Minor, "over 
the sea of Silicia and Pamphylia, and came to Myra, a 
city of Lycia on the southern shore of Asia Minor. 
Here the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing 
into Italy, upon which he put his prisoners. This was, 
probably, a merchant ship and much larger than the 
former. All along from Syria, though they sailed in a 
western current towards the JEgean Sea, they had a 
strong westerly wind, which greatly impeded their 
progress, so that they kept close to the Asian shore and 
sailed many days, and '^with difficulty'^ reached Cnidus, 
w^hich is one hundred and thirty miles from Myra. 
Cnidus was a city and promontory of Caria, in the south- 
western part of Asia Minor, memorable for the worship 



THE APOSTLES. 281 

of Venus. From Cnidus they sailed over uuto the 
island of Crete^ around Cape Salmone, after which they 
came to ^^Fair Havens/' near a city of Lasea on the 
same island. Crete is an island in the Mediterranean 
Sea, nearly opposite to Egypt. Here a Christian Church 
was established, probably by St. Paul, who afterwards 
committed it to the charge of Titus. The inhabitants 
were celebrated archers, but infamous for their false- 
hood, debaucheries and piracies. The Cretans of the 
present day are said to be precisely what they were in 
the days of St. Paul, — '' always liars, evil beasts, slow bel- 
lies,^^ They are notoriously, whether Turks or Greeks, 
the worst characters of the Levant. (Titus i. 12.) 

Now, after much time had been spent on the way 
and at Fair Havens, and the fast time was already past, 
which was at the end of September or beginning of Oc- 
tober, and sailing dangerous during this season, St. 
Paul advised them very strongly to remain where they 
were. He even warned them that if they ventured to 
pursue their voyage further, they would meet with vio- 
lent weather, with great injury to the cargo and the 
ship, and much risk to the lives of those on board. 
That Paul was allowed to give advice at all implies that 
he already was held in very unusual consideration for a 
prisoner in the hands of Roman soldiers. PauFs ex- 
perience on the sea must have been considerable, for he 
had been thrice shipwrecked before, and had sagacity 



282 THE LIVES OP 

enough to see that navigation was dangerous at this late 
season, when dreadful tempests might be expected on 
tliis stormy sea. But the owner of the ship and the 
owner of the cargo not liking to winter at "Fair Ha- 
vens/^ it not being a commodious harbor, advised to 
sail about forty miles further to Phenice, now Phenix, 
and winter there. 

" The centurion believed the master and owner of 
the ship more than those things which were spoken by 
Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to 
winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, 
if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and 
winter there.'^ The ship putting to sea again, and pur- 
suing her voyage at first with a promising gale. The 
vessel sailing around Cape Matala, close along the coast 
of Crete, a south wind softly blowing, the high land 
above Lutro already visible, the sailors in high spirits, 
forgetful of past difficulties, and blind to impending 
dangers, already supposed that they had attained their 
purpose. 

§ 19. THE STORM AND SHIPWRECK. 

As they were sailing along in tull confidence of 
reaching the desired haven, a change came over their 
fortunes ; with scarce a moment's notice, there came 
down a tempestuous wind from the mountain, called 
^^ ^U7'odydon/^ and struck the ship,. and whirling her 



THE APOSTLES. 283 

around, they lost all control of the vessel, and had to 
^^ let her drive/' or as the sailors say, " they let her 
scud/^ The hurricane soon drove the vessel close by 
Clauda, an island about twenty miles hence, lying on 
the south of Crete, nearly opposite to Phenice. They 
noAV with much trouble and risk of life, took up the 
boat and ungirded the ship, fearing it might drive into 
the quicksands of Africa. The next day they lighted 
the ship, and on the third day they threw out the tack- 
ling. But the storm still continued in all its fury, that 
neither sun nor stars could be seen for many days. The 
ancient navigators could not direct their course by the 
compass, which is a much later invention, but sailed by 
the observation of the heavenly bodies. The darkness 
of the sun and stars prevented them from making the 
necessary observations, so that they could not even tell 
where they were, or whither they were drifting. Be- 
sides their vessel was in such a leaky state that they gave 
up all hope of being saved ; thinking that nothing could 
prevent her foundering. " To this despair was added 
a further suffering from want of food, in consequence of 
the injury done to the provisions, and the impossibility 
of preparing any regular meal. Hence we see the force 
of the phrase which alludes to what a casual reader 
might suppose an unimportant part of the suffering, the 
fact that there was much abstinence.^^ While in this 
precarious condition of weakness and despair, Paul was 



284 THE LIVES OF 

praying and received a vision during the night, as for- 
merly at Jerusalem. And when morning came, Paul 
gathered together the sailors and spake unto them, say- 
ing " Sirs, ye should have hearkened to my counsel, and 
not have set sail from Crete : thus would you have been 
spared this harm and loss. 

"And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for 
there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but 
only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an 
angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, 
" Fear not, Paul ; thou must stand before Ccesar : and, 
lo! God hath given thee all who sail with thee.'^ Where- 
fore, sirs, be of good cheer : for I believe God, that 
what hath been declared unto me shall come to pass. 
Nevertheless, we must be cast upon a certain island.'^ 
They had been in a good haven, though not so commo- 
dious, yet they were safe. But by loosening from Fair 
Havens they gave up certainty for delusive hope. 
There is always a loss to those who disobey God, and 
loosen from the haven of salvation which is in Jesus 
Christ. This loss is very often temporal, when by mis- 
fortune our "riches take wings and fly away,'' but what is 
worse, it is always eternal. How many who have loos- 
ened from Christ, their only hope of safety, have 
drifted into the quicksands of sin, and were over- 
whelmed with unexpected destruction ! Let us not 
loosen from Christ, though wordly interests or circum- 



THE APOSTLES. 285 

stances lean that way, or because it is unpopular to lead 
a holy and Christian life. The people, after they let go 
from the haven of security, go from bad to worse, lading 
and ship lost, and their lives only saved by a miracle 
through God^s minister. Our temporal as well as our 
eternal safety only lies in listening to and obeying the 
voice of God. While He directs, let us obey, and we 
shall be safe. 

Now when they had been in this perilous condition 
for fourteen days, drifting through the sea of Adria, 
about midnight the shipmen by the roar of the breakers 
noticed that they were near some land, and sounded and 
found it twenty fathoms ; and going a little further, 
found it only fifteen fathoms, and fearing to go further 
on account of rocks, they cast four anchors out of the 
stern, and '^waited anxiously for the day.^^ The leak of 
the vessel was rapidly gaining, and they feared it 
might founder before daybreak. And as the shipmen 
were about to lower the boat and flee, under the pre- 
tence that they would cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul 
perceiving their designs, perhaps by divine intimation, 
"said unto the centurion and to the soldiers, except 
these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.^^ 

The soldiers, acting on PauFs advice, promptly cut 
the ropes, and the boat fell into the sea. In the mean- 
time, as daylight was coming on, the 276 persons stand- 
ing around on deck with haggard faces, feared every mo- 



286 THE LIVES OF 

ment to be their last. The holy Apostle^ alone calm 
and self-possessed, steps forward and reminds them all 
that they had ^^ eaten nothing'' for fourteen days, and 
exhorted them now to take a hearty meal for their own 
health and strength, assuring them that not a " hair of 
their head'' should perish. And when he had offered 
up a prayer of thanksgiving before them all, he set the 
example and began to eat. Thus encouraged by his 
calm and religious example, their spirits revived and 
" they also partook of food." After this meal, instead 
of abandoning themselves to despair, they resorted to 
the last remedy of relieving the sinking vessel of its 
load. The cargo of w^heat, now of no use to them, it 
being probably spoiled by the salt water, they cast into 
the sea, and made ready for the last struggle with the 
ship. And when it was 'daylight, though they could 
not at first recognize the island, they discovered a cer- 
tain creek or small bay with a sandy shore, into which 
they thought, if possible, to run the ship. And when 
they had lighted the ship, and taken up the anchors, and 
loosened the rudderbands, and lioisted the main sail to 
the wind, which with so many hands could be done si- 
multaneously, they committed themselves unto the wind 
and made for the shore. ^^And falling;: into a place 
where two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and the 
forepart stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the 
hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves." 



THE APOSTLES. 287 

The soldiers^ according to a barbarous custom^ now pro- 
posed to kill the prisoners^ lest any should escape, for 
which they would be answerable to the court of Rome. 
But the centurion, influenced by what Paul had done, 
and wishing to save him, prevented this heartless cru- 
elty, and directed that those who could swim to ^^cast 
themselves first into the sea,^^ and the rest should follow 
on boards and broken pieces of the ship. And thus it 
came to pass that they all escaped the breakers and came 
safely to shore. 

The children of God, though poor and powerless, 
are by their faith the protectors of the world. This 
shipwreck is the radiant glory of the whole voyage. 
Here appears the majesty of the commanding Paul 
amidst the raging storm and in the face of death — a 
powerful proof of his divine mission. 

§ 20. PAUL AT MELITA. 

When they had safely reached the shore, they as- 
certained that the island was Melita, now Malta. St. 
Luke says, ^^The barbarous people shewed us no little 
kindness : for they kindled a fire, and received us every 
one, because of the present rain and because of the cold.^^ 
These people were called barbarous not by way of re- 
proach, or in the sense of savages, but because they 
spoke a dialect different from the Greek or Latin 
tongue. 



288 THE LIVES OF 

While here on the island St. Paul also gathered a 
bundle of sticks, and placed them on the fire, when a 
viper came out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 
The superstitious people, when then saw this, concluded 
that, ^^This man must be a murderer: he has escaped 
from the sea : but still vengeance suffers him not to 
live/' But Paul shook off the reptile into the fire and 
suffered no harm. Then they watched him, expecting 
that his body would swell, or that he would suddenly 
fall down dead. But after watching a great while and 
seeing no harm coming upon him, they changed their 
minds, and said that he was a god. Here the people 
regarded him at first to be a wicked man, and afterwards 
a god, at Lystra they regarded him at first a god, after- 
wards a wicked man, and stoned and left him for dead. 
The Apostle, no doubt, here as at Lystra, repudiated all 
such homage. During the three months' stay of the 
Apostle on the island, he was by no means idle, but 
preached the Gospel and wa^ought many miracles. 

The chief man, Publius, the governor of the island, 
had his possessions near where they had landed, and 
gave them a hospitable reception, and supplied all their 
wants for three days, or until permanent accommodations 
could be provided. At this time the father of Publius 
lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux ; dysentery 
of a most malignant character — to w^honi Paul entered 
in, and prayed with him, and laid his hands upon 
him and healed him. 



THE APOSTLES. 289 

When the facts of the case were noised abroad, others 
came who had diseases and were healed. It is even said 
that the whole island was converted to the Christian 
faith by Paul's preaching. The inhabitants loaded 
them with many honors ; and when they departed, the 
people supplied them with everything needed on their 
journey to Rome. 

§ 21. PAUL AGAIN SETS SAIL FOR ROME. 

After a delay of three months on the island, they 
again set sail for Rome in an Alexandrian ship which 
had wintered here, named ^^ Castor and Pollux,'' and 
came to Syracuse on the island of Sicily, where they 
stayed three days. We are not told, but judging from 
the former kindness of Julius, St. Paul was here also 
permitted to go on shore, and no doubt preached the 
Gospel to the Jews first, and also to the Gentiles. And 
thus he was in all probability the founder of the Sicilian 
Church, as we also learn from tradition. 

They next came to Rhegium, the city whose patron 
divinities were Castor and Pollux, ^^the Great Twin 
Brethren," to whom the ship itself was dedicated. 
These deities were believed to be the sons of Jupiter and 
Leda, and were worshipped as the protectors of sea- 
faring men. Herein our missionaries may find comfort, 
though with the banner of the cross they set out in ships 
devoted to money-making. It should not discourage 
19 



290 THE I.IVES OF 

the true child of God, and though circum-stances are 
unfavorable for the spread of the Gospel, they should 
embrace every available opportunity of sowing the good 
seed of eternal life, and plant the banner of the cross in 
in every available spot. 

After leaving Rhegium, the south wind blew and 
carried them rapidly along, so that they came the next 
day to Puteoli, which is due north of Rhegium 182 
miles. Little did the Apostle dream as he sailed along 
and viewed the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and 
Stabia,* that they so soon should become a Sodom and 
Gomorrah. 

In the eruption of Vesuvius, which destroyed the 
former cities, the Jewish princess, the adulterous Dru- 
silla, miserably perished with the child she had born to 
Felix. At Puteoli was the great haven for the Alexan- 
drian corn ships. In this place they found brethren 
who desired them to stay some time, and it appears that 
Julius was able to allow this, for he was kind and cour- 
teous all the way, and they tarried seven days. The 
brethren there seemed so overjoyed that they communi- 
cated the news of having Paul in their midst to the 
Christians at Rome. From here they continued their 
journey on foot. There was a State road from Rome 
to Brundusium, called the '' Appian Road,^^ which was 
far superior to the Roman roads in Asia, which in com- 
*These cities perished in the eruption of Vesuvius A. D. 79. 



THE APOSTLES. 291 

parison with all other roads was called the " Queen of 
Eoads/^ They had yet a distance by land to Rome of 
142 miles. From Puteoli they had 17 miles to Capua, 
and from there to Rome 125 miles. This Appian road 
was so well made that 800 years after its construction 
Procopius was astonished at its noble appearance. He 
describes it as broad enough for two carriages to pass 
each other, and made of stones brought from some dis- 
tant quarry, and so fitted together that they seemed to 
be formed by nature rather than cemented by art. And 
further remarks that notwithstanding the traffic of so 
many ages the stones were not displaced, nor had they 
lost their original smoothness. This road the Apostle 
most certainly took, and when he came as far as the Ap- 
pii Forum, some forty odd miles from Rome, some of 
the Roman brethren came there to meet him. And ten 
miles further, at the Three Taverns, they were met by a 
second company of brethren, thus giving the Apostle a 
clear token of their love and respect. When Paul saw 
this, he ^^ thanked God and took courage.^^ And when 
they came to Rome, Julius gave his prisoners to Berrus, 
the Praetorian Praefed, who was to keep in custody all 
accused persons for trial.* In this magnificent city of 

'j^The distance from Csesarea to Rome, by the route of this 
vo3^age, was between 1,800 and 2,000 miles, and the distance be- 
tween each of the several places successively touched on this 
voyage was about as follows : From Ceesarea to Sidon, 70 miles ; 
to Myra, 450 ; to Cnidus, 130 ; to Crete, 125 ; to Kair Havens, 
70; to Clauda, 40 ; to Melita, 476; to Syracuse, TOO; to Rhegi- 
um, 75, and to Puteoli, 182 — making a total, by sea, of 1,713 
miles. V>y land, from Puteoli to Capua, 17 miles ; from Capua 
to Rome, 125— making in all 1,855 miles. 



292 THE LIVES OF 

heathenisnij St. Paul meets many whom he had met 
and known before, to whom he had sent greetings in 
his Epistle to the Romans. Not only from his impris- 
onment in Csesarea, but all along had these Roman 
Christians taken the deepest inter^est in his welfare, and 
had anxiously waited for his arrival in Rome. 

§ 22. PAUL IN ROME. 

St. Paul was now in the great city of Rome, the 
capital of the world ; though a prisoner, he was per- 
mitted to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. 
In this classic Rome, where the empire of the world 
had its seat of government, were contained, within a 
circuit of a little over twelve miles, more than two mil- 
lions of inhabitants ; of these a very large portion w^ere 
naturally poor, and about one million were slaves. The 
handicraft employments and many professions were in the 
hands of the slaves, and the consequence was that a vast 
proportion of the free citizens lived on public or private 
charity. ^^ Yet were these pauper citizens proud of their 
citizenship, though many of them had no better sleeping 
place for the night than the public porticoes or the vesti- 
bules of temples. They cared for nothing but bread for 
the day, the games of the circus, and the savage delight 
of gladiatorial shows. Manufactures and trade they re- 
garded as the business of the slaves and the foreigners."* 

*Conybeare &. Howseii. p. 737. 



THE APOSTLES. 293 

The city contained many foreigners. Every kind of 
nationality and religion found its representative in 
Rome. This great city with so many idlers^ was full of 
miseries^ vices and corruptions of every kind, but 
almost entirely destitute of Christianity. 

The city of Rome was built upon seven hills, and 
was the capital of the fourth great empire of the world. 
It was founded by Romulus and Remus 748 B. C. It 
contained no less than 420 temples, crowded with the 
statues of their deities. In it were erected 1,780 superb 
mansions belonging to opulent citizens, each of them, 
according to one of their own poets, equal to a small 
city. But the city, like Athens, was completely given to 
idolatry. 

The Colosseum of Rome was over one hundred and 
sixty feet high, upwards of a third of a mile in circum- 
ference, and capable of seating 87,000 spectators. This 
was, no doubt, the greatest amphitheatre the world ever 
saw. The effect of such an edifice must have been sub- 
lime and overpowering. The old Romans, proud of 
their riches, and trusting in their mythology, had a 
proverbial expression, saying : 

^^ While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand. 
When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall. 
When Rome falls, the world shall fall.'' 

But history did not verify this saying, for the world 
still stands, but Rome, the city of the " Seven Hills,'' 



294 THE LIVES OF 

like Athens, has been crushed and broken by the tramp 
of centuries, and repeats for the thousandth time the 
epitaph of all human glory. 

Three days after PauFs arrival in Rome he calls the 
chief men of the Jews together, thinking that they 
might have received unfavorable news about him. And 
when they had come together, he said unto them, "Men 
and brethren, though I have committed nothing against 
the people or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered 
a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Ro- 
mans ; who, when they had examined me, would have 
let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. 
But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained 
to appeal unto Csesar ; not that I had aught to accuse 
my nation of. For this cause, therefore, have I called 
for you, to see you, and to speak with you ; because 
that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain/^ 

When they had heard this, they assured him that 
they had received nothing bad about him, either by let- 
ters from Judea, or orally from any of the brethren ; 
yet they desired to have a personal statement from him 
in reference to these religious sentiments, for as concern- 
ing this sect they knew that it was everywhere spoken 
against. This assertion of the Jews is hardly true, 
since Paul had been laboring for twenty years in dif- 
ferent parts of Asia and Europe, and was much hated 
and persecuted by the Jew.« ^ut they appointed a day 



THE APOSTLES. 295 

of meetings and when that time came, there came a great 
many Jews unto him in his lodging. To these he an- 
nounced and explained the facts of redemption and the 
establishment of the kingdom of God through Jesus 
Christ. And, secondly, proved from the writings of 
Moses and the Prophets that Jesus was the Messiah 
promised in the Old Testament Covenant. 

This discussion he continued ^^from morning till 
evening. ^^ The result was a division among his audi- 
ence, some believed and some believed not. After a 
long and stormy discussion the unbelieving portion de- 
parted, but not until Paul had warned them and 
brought their own scripture home in denunciation 
against them saying, ^^ Well spake the Holy Ghost by 
Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto 
this people, and say, hearing ye shall hear, and shall not 
understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive ; 
for the heart or this people is waxed gross, and their 
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they 
closed ; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear 
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and 
should be converted, and I should heal them.'' And 
when he had thus spoken, the Jews departed with great 
disputing among themselves. Paul could now with a 
good conscience turn unto the Gentiles. During his 
imprisonment at Rome, he was permitted to dwell in 
his own hired house for two years. He was still a 



296 THE LIVES OF 

prisoner and chained by the arm, day and night, to one 
of the imperial body guard. But he was allowed to re- 
ceive all that came unto him, and permitted "to preach 
the Gospel to them that were in Rome also/^ no one 
"forbidding him/^ Here ends the history of the holy 
Apostle Paul as far as given in the Acts ; his further 
history must now be gathered from his own writings. 

§ 23. PAUL'S FIRST TRIAL. 

We have no full historical information of Paul's trial 
or the witnesses brought against him, except what we can 
gather, here and there, from his own Epistles, written 
from Rome. He could hardly have reached Rome 
much before the end of A. D. 61. From the confession 
of the Jews at Rome (Acts xxviii. 21) we learn that his 
accusers could not have been there then, but must have 
come after his arrival there. So that his trial could not 
have taken place till the end of A. D. 61, or the begin- 
ning of 62. Even if the Jews were anxious to bring 
him to a speedy trial, which is by no means certain, 
because their hope of gaining the case was rather doubt- 
ful ; it had already broken down for want of evidence, 
and Festus had pronounced him innocent. Besides, 
Nero had a rule to hear each charge separately and pro- 
nounce sentence before a second charge was entered into. 
Against Paul there were three charges : 1st. That he was 
a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the 



THE APOSTLES. 297 

world. This was treason against the Emperor. 2d. 
That he was a ringleader of the '^sect of the Nazarenes.'^ 
This was heresy against the law of Moses. 3d. That 
he had also gone about to profane the temple at Jeru- 
salem. This was not only an offense against the Jew- 
ish^ but also against the Roman law^ which protected 
the Jews in their worship. 

In order to procure the witnesses from different parts 
of Asia and Europe^ and not being very sanguine about 
a trial, foreknown to break down, Paul remained a pris- 
oner for two whole years at Rome, until the beginning 
of the year A. D. 63. 

But during all this time, as already stated, Paul had 
full liberty to preach the Gospel and hold social inter- 
course with his friends. His preaching, we are told, 
was subject to no restraint whatever. And having from 
day to day a different soldier to guard him, he had al- 
ways at least one soldier among his audience, and thus 
had an opportunity of reaching the household troops 
attached to the residence of the emperor Nero. And 
what at first would seem to hinder his usefulness at 
Rome, no doubt deepened the impression of his eloquence. 
For who could see without emotion the venerable and 
persecuted Saint, as he raised up his hand and rattled 
the chain, by which he was fastened to a soldier, without 
weeping. And all this was done, neither for gain, nor 
any selfish motives, but solely for the love of Christ and 



298 THE LIVES OF 

the salvation of immortal souls. ^^How often must the 
tears of the assembly have been called forth by the up- 
raising of that fettered hand and the clanking of the 
chain which checked its energetic action !^^ 

But by his preaching at Rome, Paul tells us that he 
has begotten many children in his chains. Not only 
was he pressed with a crowd of hearers daily, but he 
had also ^^the care of all the churches'^ resting upon 
him, which demanded his constant effort and vigilance. 
From Rome he kept up a constant intercourse, not only 
with his own converts, but with all the Gentile Churches, 
which had even not yet seen his face. To manage and 
superintend this work he had many faithful messengers 
around him, who would carry his letters and give ad- 
vice to the Churches, and report to him again. Here 
we find John Mark again, one of his tried and most 
faithful servants, for whom he even sent to comfort him 
in his dying hours. 

§ 24. PHILEMON. 

But among all the disciples that ministered unto 
Paul at Rome, none has greater interest for us than 
Onesimus. He was the slave of Philemon, a Christian 
of the Colossian Church. He had robbed his master 
and run away, and at last found his way to Rome. How 
he became acquainted with Paul is not known, but he 
may have seen him at Ephesus, where Paul had con- 



THE APOSTLES. 299 

verted his master. Onesimus in some way found Paul 
at Rome and was converted to that faith which he 
formerly rejected. He confessed his sins to Paul and 
was anxious to return to his master ; though Paul would 
have liked to retain him at Rome, yet he sent him back 
to his master, pledging himself to pay the amount of 
which Onesimus had defrauded him. 

An opportunity now presented itself for the penitent 
Onesimus to return in good company to his master with 
Tychicus, whom St. Paul was now sending with an 
Epistle to the Church of Colossae in Asia Minor, the 
home of Philemon. At the same time he wrote the 
Epistle to Philemon, and gave it to Onesimus to de- 
liver to his injured master at Colossae. This letter deli- 
cately hinted that Onesimus could be more useful to him 
and the Church, for which position he was, no doubt, 
qualified, than in the service of an individual. Paul 
advised his master to receive him kindly ^^as my own 
flesh and blood.^' This letter is a ^^gem of Christian 
tenderness,^^ an invaluable portrait of the generous, 
amiable, kind-hearted Apostle, who, in the midst of his 
cares for the whole Church, had also a warm heart for a 
poor slave, and treated him as an equal and dear brother 
in Jesus Christ.* O how different is the Apostle^s 
bearing from our would-be aristocratic Christianity, 
which will not even allow their servants either to eat 

*Dr. Schaff's History of ApostoUc Church, p. 327. 



300 THE LIVES OF 

with them at their table or bear them in their company, 
but exclude and confine them to the kitchen, and treat 
them worse than the Southern slaveholders would their 
slaves. They concern themselves little or nothing about 
their moral or religious character, and even exclude 
them from their hypocritical family worship, if they 
have any, which often becomes an empty mockery. 
How will you square such conduct with the principles of 
PauFs religion ? Are you not afraid that you will at 
last receive the rich man^s place, while your servants, of- 
ten, perhaps, better than yourselves, will enter into 
Abraham's bosom? (Luke xvi. 19 — 31.) ' . 

We see here the conservative principle of Christian- 
ity, which was not to break up the very foundations of 
society at once by revolution and bloodshed, but a prin- 
ciple which was to work itself gradually into society and 
leaven-like penetrate through the whole law of human 
practice, until at last all men shall be recognized as 
equal in the sight of God and man. While Onesimus, 
after returning to his native town, hurries with his Epis- 
tle to the house of his master, Philemon, Tychicus pro- 
ceeded to the presbyters with the Epistle he had in 
charge, that it might be read to the whole Church at 
Colossae at the very next meeting. 



THE APOSTLES. 301 

§ 25. COLOSSAE. 

Colossae was a city of considerable note in Phrygia, 
situated nearly midway between Laodicea and Hierapolis, 
on an eminence south of the river Meander. This Epis- 
tle was written about the same time with the Epistles to 
Philemon and the Ephesians A. D. 62, and at the same 
place while Paul was a prisoner at Rome. About a year 
after the writing of this Epistle, Colossae and its neigh- 
boring cities were destroyed by an earthquake. 

The causes which called forth this Epistle are found 
in the Epistle itself. Epaphras, a disciple of Paul, 
probably founded this Church (Col. i. 7), but was now 
at Rome, and communicated to Paul that the faith of 
the congregation was in danger of being perverted by 
false teachers. x4Lnd because they had such great love 
for Paul in the Spirit (Col. i. 8), it was probably thought 
that if he would write an Epistle to them it might coun- 
teract this evil. It may be that some false teachers, or 
some Alexandrian Jew, had come among them, imbued 
with Greek ^^ philosophy,^' to which he combined ^Hhe 
Rabbinical theosophy,"^^ some Judaistical asceticism and 
spiritualism and angel worship, which afterwards mani- 
fested itself in Gnosticism. St. Paul tries to counteract 
these false principles by inculcating a sound and pure 
Christian morality, which the heretics despised. In or- 

-''God-wise. One who soars in the cloudy regions of the spir- 
itual world. 



302 



THE LIVES OF 



der to root out such outside human influences among the 
Colossians, Paul writes this Epistle. 

§ 26. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 

At the same time that the Epistles to the Colos- 
sians and Philemon were sent^ Paul also wrote and sent 
with Tychicus the Epistle to the Ephesians. This epis- 
tle was, however, not addressed to the Church at Ephe- 
sus, as we may learn from its eternal evidence, but to 
some other church in Asia Minor, where Paul had 
never been, probably to Laodicea. This view seems to 
be the most satisfactory conclusion of the best critics, 
after having examined all the evidence in the case, and 
is especially confirmed by the language of the epistle it- 
self.* When, therefore, Tychicus was about to leave 
Rome, he was not only to visit Colossae, but also other 
places in Asia Minor, which, though not having the 
same trouble, might still require the same warning as 
Colossae, in order to guard against and prevent the in- 
troduction of false doctrine. It would seem that he sent 
different copies of the same epistle to the different 
Churches there, because the circumstances of these 
Churches were in themselves very similar to those of the 
Colossian Church, "except that they were not infected 
with the peculiar errors which had crept in at Colassae.'^ 

St. Paul has undoubtedly written many other epis- 

*Conybeare &> Howsen's Life of Paul, p. 763, col. 4, 16. 



THE APOSTLES. 303 

ties which are now lost. He himself mentions one such 
to Corinth. It is inexplicable that his epistles to Anti- 
och and Ephesus, two of his metropolitan Churches^ with 
which he was so long connected^ should not have been 
preserved to us. Most of the Christians in Asia had 
been heathens, yet their hearts would be greatly cheered 
and strengthened by words addressed directly to them- 
selves from the great Apostle to the Gentiles, whose face 
many of them had never seen, but whose bonds had en- 
deared him to their love. 

In this epistle the Apostle gives praise to God for 
the blessing of the Gospel, and thanksgiving and prayer 
for the Saints. And admonishes them concerning their 
once wretched, but now happy condition. In the next 
place he exhorts them to walk worthy of their calling ; 
in unity of spirit; to avoid lying, anger, theft, and 
other sins ; and commands opposite virtues. He also 
commands a faithful discharge of the relative duties of 
husbands and wifes, children and parents, masters and 
servants. And finally admonishes them to fight with 
the whole armor of God against the wiles of the Devil, 
and to remain steadfast in watchfulness and prayer until 
the complete victory is won. Paul in the meantime re- 
mained a prisoner at Rome, and continued to preach the 
Gospel, and had many converts. His chains in Christ 
became known even throughout the whole Praetorian 
guards. Soon after he had written his three last letters 



304 THE LIVES OF 

to Asia, he was cheered by the arrival of Epaphroditus, 
who brought him a contribution from the Philippian 
Christians. This church had several times before con- 
tributed to his wants, and now again remembers their 
beloved teacher in his chains. This disciple, perhaps of 
feeble health, or from exposure of his journey brought 
on himself a dangerous illness, which brought him nigh 
unto death. Meanwhile great changes had taken place 
in the Roman government, the virtuous Burrus died, 
which broke the power of Senaca, and Pallas was put to 
death by poison, and others were killed, and their offices 
were filled by wicked men, and Nero married his adul- 
terous mistress Poppaea, who had become a proselyte to 
Judaism. This wicked woman caused Nero to put to 
death his poung wife Octavia, and his mother Aggripi- 
na, for she had at this time a powerful influence over 
Nero. But the atrocious crimes of Nero did not so much 
disgust the Romans as his disgracing of the imperial 
purple. He even publicly performed as a musician on 
the stage, and as a charioteer in the circus. This degra- 
dation of his dignity, as well as his vanity for popular 
applause, drew tears of shame and of disgust from his 
counsellors and servants, who could see him slaughter 
his relatives without remorse. 

Before this blood-stained adulterer, Paul had his 
trial. But we may feel assured that the man who with 
undaunted courage stood before the emissaries of the 



THE APOSTLES. 305 

devil^ did not quail when he was confronted with the 
master himself. 

§ 27. EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS. 

Paul now writes the Epistle to the Philippians and 
sends it along with Epaphroditus^ who had now re- 
covered from his sickness and was " filled with longing'^ 
to return to his friends at Philippi. Of all the epistles 
of Paul, this is the only one which is almost entirely free 
from censure. This gives us a very exalted idea of the 
Christians at Philippi, who, though they had passed 
through much persecution, yet had they remained firm 
in their Christian faith. They also were most entirely 
free from doctrinal errors and Judaizing influences. The 
only blemish mentioned in the Epistle to the Philip- 
pians is that of several women, who were not suffi- 
ciently humble, Avhich created some disgraceful bicker- 
ing. (Phil. iv. 2.) 

Under the existing circumstances beseemed to have 
had little hope of being liberated from his imprisonment, 
but rather expected that his blood would soon be 
"poured forth.'^ (Phil. ii. 17.) He also sends special 
salutations from the household of Nero, into which the 
Gospel had penetrated St. Luke tells us that St. Paul 
remained a prisoner in Rome "for two whole years,^^ •^ 
but he says not what followed at the close of that 
period. Though the subject of PauFs imprisonment at 
20 



306 TFTE LIVES OF 

Rome lias become one of dispute in modern times, 
there was no doubt entertained about it in the early 
Church. It was universally believed that his appeal to 
Caesar terminated successfully; and that he was ac- 
quitted, and spent some years in freedom before he 
was again imprisoned and condemned to death. Clem- 
ent, a disciple of PauFs, and afterwards Bishop of 
Rome, says that Paul had preached the Gospel ^^IN 
THE EAST AND IN THE west/^ that '' he had instructed 
the whole world in righteousness;^^ and that ^^ he HAD 

GONE TO THE EXTREMITY OF THE WEST/^ before he 

suffered martyrdom. This could imply even Brit- 
ain, at least nothing short of Spain. Chrysostom tells us 
as an undoubted historical fact, that St. Paul, after his 
residence in Rome, departed to Spain. And Jerome 
tells us the same thing. It seems also clear from 
Paul's own Epistles to Timothy and Titus, that he was, 
after his first imprisonment in Rome, travelling in 
Ephesus, Crete, Macedonia, Miletus and Nicopolis. 



THE APOSTLES. 307 



CHAPTER V. 



§ 1. PAULAS FOUKTH MISSIONARY 
JOURNEY. 

If our idea is correct^ then we must suppose Paul 
to have gone from Rome to Brundusium into Mace- 
donia unto Philippi. With what joy would the Apos- 
tle be welcomed by his beloved children of Philippi ? 
From thence to Ephesus^ making it a centre of opera- 
tions^ and visiting now for the first time Colossse, La- 
odicea and other churches in Asia Minor. Paul^ after 
this, probably sailed from Ephesus, but by what route 
he went to Spain we cannot tell, but may suppose him 
to have reached it in the year 64, and to have remained 
there about two years. From Spain he seems to have 
returned A. D. 66 to Ephesus. Here he found Hyme- 
nseus and Philetus already sowing that evil seed, against 
which he had so earnestly warned the Elders in his 
valedictory speech at Miletus. Here we already recog- 
nize the germ of those heresies which gave so much 
trouble to the early Church. At Ephesus he left Timo- 
thy behind to complete what he himself Avas not per- 
mitted to finish. 



308 THE LIVES OF 

Paul evidently hurried from place to plac^e^ where 
his presence was required^ and the churches to be looked 
after. From thirty year§' hard labor, persecution, and 
much suffering, and more or less physical weakness, as 
he was approaching the age of 70 years, he must have 
been more or less enfeebled in body and mind, so that 
he sought no more after new fields of labor, but only 
looked after those which he had already established. 

From Ephesus he seems to have been called to Mace- 
donia, where he expected to make but a short stay and 
return again. But when there, fearing that his absence 
from Ephesus might be delayed longer than he at first 
anticipated, thinking that Timothy, whom he left be- 
hind to complete the work, might be in want of a more 
explicit credential from him than a mere verbal com- 
mission, he writes him the first Epistle. 

§ 2. FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 

This Epistle was written from Macedonia. It con- 
tains various rules for the government of the Ephesian 
church, which might be more readily obeyed when com- 
ing from their old friend . and teacher. Herein he de- 
nounces the false teachers which had ah^eady come to 
Ephesus. There are also exhortations to Timothy him- 
self, advising him to remain faithful to the trust com- 
mitted to his charge. St. Paul seems to have returned 
sooner than he had expected (1 Tim. iii. 14, 15), for we 



THE APOSTLES. 309 

find him shortly at Ephesus again^ as he hoped to be 
when he wrote to Timothy. From Ephesus he soon 
after went to Crete^ where churches had been founded 
either by himself or by private Christians. Here also 
they were troubled with false teachers^ and may not have 
been properly organized. St. Paul paid them a visit 
with Titus^ whom he left here^ either to silence error^ or 
to complete the organization, or both. Titus occupied 
about the same position in Crete as Timothy did in 
Ephesus, and for the same reason that caused him to 
write to Timothy, Paul may have written to him in 
order to strengthen him in the organization and govern- 
ment of that church. 

§ 3. EPISTLE TO TITUS. 

Shortly after leaving Titus in Crete he sends him 
an Epistle, directing him in the appointment of presby- 
ters or Elders for the Church., and how to meet the 
opposition of evil teachers, which he had to encounter 
in carrying forward his master's work. In this epistle 
Paul quotes in reference to the Cretans what one of 
their own men, a prophet, had said, namely : 

"Always liars and beasts are the Cretans, and in- 
wardly sluggish ;" and says "this testimony is true.'' 
This epistle must have been written from Ephesus at 
the moment when Paul was about to depart on a west- 
ward journey, which was to take him as far as Nicop- 



310 THE LIVES OF 

olis in Epirus, wliere he expected to winter, and where 
Titus was to meet him again. (Titus iii. 12.) We learn 
from 2 Tim. iv. 20, that Paul went from Ephesus to 
Miletus, where his old companion Trophimus remained 
sick behind, and came to Corinth, where he left Erastus, 
the former treasurer of that city, and came to Nicopolis. 
This was a central position for his missionary operations 
in the surrounding province. It seems most probable 
that Paul was not permitted to spend his winter here in 
security, because Christians had by this time been dis- 
tinguished from the Jews, and were far more obnoxious 
than before. So eminent a leader of the Christian sect* 
was sure to find enemies everywhere, especially among 
the Jews, who would, if possible, cause his arrest, and 
have him sent to Rome. 

§ 4. PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT AT 

ROME. 

And there is nothing improbable in supposing that, 
upon the testimony of some informer, Paul was arrested 
by the magistrate of Nicopolis, and the authorities in 
order to gratify the Emperor, forwarded so important a 
criminal immediately to Rome for trial. The law re- 
quired that a prisoner should be tried by the magistrate 
within whose jurisdiction the crime was said to have 
been committed. In this second arrest he was no doubt 

*Such the Christians were called. 



THE APOSTLES. 311 

charged among other accusations, for conspiring to set 
the city of Rome on fire, for which the Christians were 
falsely accused, and unmercifully slaughtered by that 
tyrant, Nero. In this melancholy journey to Rome, as 
well as in his imprisonment there, Paul had but few com- 
panions to cheer him. Titus had come to him at Nicop- 
olis, but he sent him to Dalmatia, afterwards called 
Illyricum. Demas had left him " for love of this present 
world,^^ and others were scattered by the terror of his 
arrest. St. Luke remained faithful and accompanied 
his master once more over the wintry sea and shared the 
dangers of his imprisonment at Rome. This time Paul 
had not the liberty to dwell in his own house and preach 
the Gospel as he did five years before. This imprison- 
ment is evidently more severe. He is now not only 
chained, but treated ^^as a malefactor.^^ His friends 
were still allowed to see him, but iu so doing tliey ex- 
posed themselves to great danger. In the court of jus- 
tice, when he was tried, no one stood by him but the 
Lord Jesus. And as the end of this trial approaches, 
he looks forward to death as his certain doom. This 
corresponds with what the history of the times would 
lead us to expect. If Paul, as we believe, was liberated 
early in A. D. 63, he was far away from Rome when 
the great fire of 64 took place. From that time on, the 
Christians were first recognized as a distinct body, 
whose numbers already must have been very great in 



312 THE LIVES OP 

Rome. In that great fire half the city of Rome burned 
to ashes. 

Nero, who was accused of burning the city, spent 
large sums of money for the support of the sufferers, but 
now commenced to persecute and put to death the 
Christians with exquisite cruelty, and added to their suf- 
ferings mockery and derision. This he did in ofder to 
remove the imputation of that horrible transaction from 
himself, and transfer the guilt to others. But all this 
could not efface from the minds of men the prevailing 
opinion that Rome was set on fire by his own orders.* 

In this great persecution, which now followed, Ta- 
citus informs us that ''a very great multitude'^ of 
Christians perished in this manner; and it appears from 
his statement that the mere fact of professing Christian- 
ity was accounted sufficient to justify their execution. 
The whole body of Christians was considered as in- 
volved in the crime of firing the city. In this bloody 
persecution some were crucified, others were sewed up 
in the skins of wild beasts and destroyed by dogs ; 
others again were covered with inflammable material and 
burned as torches by night in Nero's garden for his 
amusement. In this w^ay great multitudes perished. 
But brutalized as the Romans were, it at last aroused 
their pity. When St. Paul was brought to Rome, the 
rage of madness had somewhat ceased and more respect 
was again shown to the forms of law. 
*Tac. Ann., xv. 44. 



THE APOSTLES. 313 

We are not told what charges were brought against 
Paul at his second trial. He may have been accused 
for violating the law in introducing a (religio nova et 
illicita) '^ new and unlawful religion." He might cer- 
tainly be regarded as an offender against the law which 
prohibited the introduction of a religion not sanctioned 
by law. 

Probably he was also charged with having advised 
the Roman Christians to burn the city when he left the 
capital five years before, after having been freed from 
imprisonment and trial the first time. Alexander,* the 
brass-founder, whom he had excommunicated,! was ei- 
ther one of his accusers, or at least a witness against 
him, and showed personal malice against the Apostle, 
and did him much harm. 

§ 5. SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 

It seems that in PauPs second trial at Rome he had 
a hearing before a magistrate, and immediately after the 
trial on the first charge he writes to Timothy, saying : 
'^ When I was first heard in my defence, no man stood 
by me, but all forsook me, — I pray that it be not laid 
to their charge. Nevertheless the Lord Jesus stood by 
me and strengthened my heart, that by me the procla- 
mation of the glad tidings might be accomplished in 

••■This is probably the Alexander of Ephesus. 2 Tim. iv. 14, 16. 
tl Tim. 1. 20. 



314 THE LIVES OP 

full measure, and that all the Gentiles raight hear ; and 
I was delivered out of the lion's mouth/' From this 
we are justified to draw the inference that in his last 
trial no one had courage to plead for Paul, but that in 
the strength of the Lord Jesus he plead his own cause, 
and that he spoke to a crowded audience, so that "all 
the Gentiles might hear/' 

§ 6. PAUL'S SECOND TRIAL. 

This trial very probably took place in one of the 
Pauline Basilicas,* which were of great size, and large 
multitudes of spectators w^ere always present on such oc- 
casions. Here Paul, strengthened in the power of 
Christ's Spirit, plead not only his own, but the Gospel's 
cause. " He spoke of Jesus, of His death and His resur- 
rection, so that all the heathen multitude might hear." 
It appears from his own writings (2 Tim. iv. 17) that 
he defended and cleared himself from the first charge 
brought against him. He was now delivered from the 
immediate peril, and saved from the "lion^s mouth.^^ 

Being delivered from the "lion's mouth," may 
mean that he at his first hearing established his inno- 
cence in reference to the charge of setting the city of 
Rome on fire. This proof, together with his Roman 
citizenship, would exempt him from the most cruel 
punishment and exposure to wild beasts, crucifixion, 

■*So called from their builder, Lucius ^Emilius Paulus. 



THE APOSTLES. 315 

burning alive, or of being covered with the skins of 
wild beastSj and left to be devoured by dogs, or of being 
east before wild beasts, by which so many Christians 
perished under Nero. Having escaped such a punish- 
ment, Paul might truly say, I was delivered from the 
^'lion^s mouthy 

He was now remanded to prison again, to wait for 
the second stage of his trial. "^ He, however, did not ex- 
pect a final acquittal of all the charges brought against 
him. The second accusation may have been that he 
was no Roman citizen ; he therefore urges Timothy to 
come to Rome with Mark, and to bring along the cloak, 
the books, "but especially the parchment,^^ (2 Tim. iv. 
13.) This parchment may have been the certificate or 
acknowledgment of his Roman citizenship. But from 
the whole tenor of the Epistle, we see that he saw his 
doom. He expected, from an unrighteous judge, noth- 
ing but final condemnation, and the sword of the bloody 
executioner. But full of triumphant Christian faith, he 
looked beyond to a more righteous judge, and in that 
sublime strain of triumphant hope, w^hich is familiar to 
every Christian, and which has nerved the hearts of a 
thousand martyrs, he exclaimed, " I am now ready to 
be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I 
have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I 

*One charge had to be finished before another could be taken 
up. 



316 THE LIVES OF 

have kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me the 
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
Judge, shall give me in that day/^ He looked beyond 
the transitory present to a tribunal, where the fetters of 
a criminal, wrongly so called, would soon be changed 
for a conqueror's crown. 

In this struggle of death Luke was his only constant 
companion. Others came to see him. Onesiphorus, 
from Asia, sought him out. There were also some in 
high stations who cauie to receive his blessing. "Among 
these were Linus, afterwards bishop of the Church of 
Rome.'' There came also " Pudens, the son of a Sena- 
tor ; and Claudia, his bride, perhaps the daughter of a 
British king." But Timothy is sent for, who was far 
distant, to whom he, no doubt, wished to give, face to 
face, the last instruction and parting blessing of a dying 
father to a faithful son. 

We are not certain whether Timothy was able to 
reach Rome in time to receive Paul's parting blessing, 
and cheer him in his last earthly sufferings. It is, how- 
ever, very probable that he came in time, from the fact 
that he also was imprisoned in Rome, but liberated be- 
fore the epistle to the Hebrews was written. Nero's 
death occurred in June A. D. 68, shortly after Paul's 
martyrdom, which must have taken place not later than 
the beginning of June. This view also corresponds 
with universal tradition, which says that St. Paul was 



THE APOSTLES. 317 

executed at the end of May or the beginning of June, 
under the reign of Nero. We have no record of his 
trial, but to all appearance it ended sooner than he had 
expected, in capital punishment. His Roman citizen- 
ship exempted him from the ignominous death of lin- 
gering torture, which had lately been inflicted on so 
many of his brethren. 

After his condemnation he was led out beyond the 
city wall, upon the road to Ostia, the port of Rome. 
The Roman officers who led him to execution were 
marching, though they knew it not, in a procession 
more truly triumphal than any they had ever followed, 
in the train of General or Emperor, along the Sacred 
Way. Paul, like his Lord, suffered without the city 
gate. Here the noble martyl* was beheaded by the 
sword of the Roman headsman, and ended his long 
course of labor and suffering. As his soul was relieved 
from that feeble body, it took its flight to the imperish- 
able glories of the heavenly Jerusalem. Weeping 
friends took up the body and carried it to the catacombs 
for burial, where the persecuted Church often found 
refuge for the living, and sepulchres for the dead. This 
representation agrees with the usages of the period. 
Eusebius, the historian, says that the original burial 
places of Peter and Paul, in the catacombs, were still 
shown in his time. 

Thus died the Apostle, the Prophet, and the Martyr ; 



318 THE LIVES OP 

who, we are sure, is now among the glorious company of 
the Apostles, Prophets, and the noble army of martyrs, 
and with his ever living Lord. And wherever the 
Gospel is preached, and the kingdom of Christ estab- 
lished, ^4here Paul of Tarsus is revered, as the great 
teacher of universal redemption/' 

As far as the Gospel is preached, learning and wis- 
dom has flourished. It has illuminated the world of 
literature and science, and cast a halo of glory around 
the atmosphere of intellect. What the compass is to 
the mariner, upon the pathless deep, the Bible is to the 
world, for it contains that doctrine which, like a pillar 
of fire, illumes our path to the Canaan above. It is 
more lasting than the proud pyramids of Egypt, which 
still stand as mournful monuments of human ambition. 
But he whose mind has been renovated by the glad 
tidings of salvation, need neither fear to look forward to 
the dissolution of nature, nor the wreck and ruin of the 
universe, because he stands upon that Rock whose foun- 
dation cannot be shaken when time shall be no more. 

Nearly two thousand years have passed away and 
the religion which Christ established and Paul preached, 
has stood unhurt amid the whirlwinds of passion. While 
the empires of the earth have passed away, and thrones 
of despots have crumbled into dust, it is by the eternal 
fiat of heaven that the temple of Christianity shall stand 
unhurt by the war of Pagan superstition, or the assaults 



THE APOSTLES. 319 

of modern infidelity^ for it is founded upon Truth, — "the 
Rock of Ages/^ which is as enduring as eternity itself. 
Let us then ever remember, the great sacrifice of Jesus 
was made for us, that we might live in beatific vision, 
where no second Judas can ever betray, or Satan triumph 
over an expiring Saviour. From Calvary's summit a 
light broke forth upon th^ world, on which idolatry and 
superstition affrighted fled. It was the dawn of redemp- 
tion ! The waves of time may now roll on and threaten 
to sweep us away, but as we pass with Paul through the 
dark vale of death, the light of Calvary will illuminate 
our path to the mansions above. 

Paul is dead ! The life and labors of the good and 
beloved servant of God are ended, yet he continues to 
live, and to speak words of cheer and consolation to mil- 
lions of hearts, who in great tribulation are travelling 
through this world of sin and misery, onward and up- 
ward, to eternal glory. We see from the whole life of 
Paul that he, like his divine Lord, had to drink deep of 
the waters of affliction, before he could enter into the 
joys of his Lord. 

" This truth how certain, when this life is o'er 
Man dies to live, and lives to die no more." 



320 THE LIVES OF 

§ 6. EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 

In reference to the authorship of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, there is a considerable difference of opinion. 
It has been attributed to different persons, Barnabas, 
Luke and Apollos. Its Apostolic authority has never 
been doubted, but its authorship has often been called 
into question. What, perhaps above everything else, 
caused this doubt, is the want of a name, or a congrega- 
tion to which it was addressed, as well as the signature 
of its author. 

There is, however, no doubt but that the epistle was 
addressed to Hebrew Christians. Its readers are as- 
sumed to be familiar with all the Levitical Temple ser- 
vices and all the Mosaic institutions. The Jewish 
Christians seem to have been in danger of apostatizing 
to Judaism. These are called upon to behold in Christ 
the fulfillment of the law, and the completion and per- 
fect consummation of Judaism in Christianity. 

To what congregation the epistle to the Hebrews 
was addressed, whether to the one in Palestine, or to 
the one at Alexandria in Egypt, we cannot tell. But 
from the epistle itself we know that it was written be- 
fore the year A. D. 70, because the temple worship at 
Jerusalem was still going on undisturbed. The author 
of the epistle lived at Rome. Timothy was just liber- 
erated from imprisonment. (Heb. xiii. 23.) The im- 
prisonment of Timothy must have taken place at or 



THE APOSTLES. 321 

near the time of St. PauPs death, for during his second 
imprisonment Paul wrote the second epistle to Timothy, 
desiring him to come to Rome at once. (2 Tim. iv. 9.) 
We are not certain, but the probability is that Timothy 
came to Paul at Rome in time, and was also imprisoned, 
but liberated again, and that St. Paul himself about this 
time wrote this epistle, shortly before his death, at the 
time in which Timothy was liberated. St. Peter seems 
to have read all PauFs former epistles, and remarks that 
some things in them were hard to be understood ; a fact 
which St. Paul mentions in this epistle. (Heb. v. 11.) 
This would seem to bring the date of writing the epistle 
to the year A. D. 68, shortly before St. PauFs death. 
^^The Spirit of God has chosen this occasion to en- 
lighten the universal Church concerning the design of 
the ancient covenant, and the interpretation of the Jew- 
ish Scriptures.^^ Nor could the memory of St. Paul be 
enshrined in a nobler monument, nor his mission on 
earth be more fitly closed, than by this inspired record 
of the true subordination of Judaism to Christianity. 
The last plank for shipwrecked humanity is here thrown 
out to the Jews, as the only anchor of hope and happi- 
ness. But rejecting this, the brilliant luminary which 
went down in blood on Calvary, should never light their 
path of peace through this world, and the dark defiles 
of death and the grave, but, like Pharaoh and his host, 
they should sink to the bottom of the sea. 
21 



322 THE LIVES OF 

In the East the Gospel which the Apostles preached, 
has long since been obliterated, and the inhabitants are 
sunk into a state even lower than that in which the 
gospel light found them at first. But the gospel sun 
which ages ago Avent down on them, rose on the lands 
of the West, whose nations, turning their eyes ever to 
the East as the source of religious light, caught the early 
effulgence of the gospel truth, which, though at times 
overclouded, has since brightened in a steady career of 
glory, ^^like the path of the just, shining as the morn- 
ing light, more and more, unto the perfect day/^ 

Besides, Christianity " has never been received and 
held incorrupt by mere savages or wanderers ; and it 
never can be. Thus and therefore it was, that wherever 
Roman conquest spread and secured the lasting triumphs 
of civilization, thither Christianity followed, and flour- 
ished as on a congenial soil, till at last not one land was 
left in the whole empire, where the eagle and the dove 
did not spread their wings in harmonious triumph. ^^ 
In all countries where Roman civilization prepared the 
way. Christian churches rose, and gathered within them 
the noble and the refined, as well as the humble and the 
poor. 

Wherever the Christian religion has been lost in the 
East, it had lost its first love, or was destroyed by fire 
and sword, because it had been corrupted by persons 
who tried to make the naked truth more acceptable to 



THE APOSTLES. 323 

the heathenish fancies of the people, by robing it in the 
borrowed finery of mythology. 

Palestine is the land whereon was represented the 
great drama of divine wisdom struggling with error and 
human perversity ; where moral truth suiFered martyr- 
dom to fertilize with its blood a more perfect civiliza- 
tion. This land in which many of the most powerful 
miracles of God were performed, and the most sonl- 
stirring prayers were ever offered by the Saviour and 
his saints, has lost its power and glory. The Jews have 
long since lost their nationality, being without king or 
country, are scattered among the nations of the earth, as 
a punishment for killing the Prophets, crucifying the 
Son of God and murdering His saints. 

In conclusion, we ask, is it not remarkable that the 
very cities and empires which were the scenes of the 
prophecies of Christ^s miracles, of His crucifixion, as well 
as those who rejected the Gospel, as though cursed by 
heaven, have all, like Meros, been destroyed, and their 
ruins alone remain as mementos of their former magnifi- 
cence. Melancholy is the memory and sad the renown 
of the once worshipped and wonderful City of God. 

Where now is the glory of ancient Jerusalem, the 
princess of Palestine, decked with the gaudy grandeur of 
Solomon, and graced with her glorious temple, sur- 
rounded by impregnable walls and lofty towers, and her 
tombs of the kings, rummaged and uprooted by savage 
hords ? 



324 THE LIVES OF 

Where now is the splendor of Babylon, adorned 
with her golden gates, her temple of Bel us, and her 
hanging gardens and everlasting walls ? Alas, they are 
in ruinc!, and their crumbling temples and tombs alone 
remain, sad monuments, amid the waste of time, of their 
rise and ruin, of their degradation and decay. The land 
of beauty, of power and glory has become the abode of 
the barbarian. 

And where is the glory of Athens, the seat of sci- 
ence, learning and song? The. illuminator of nations, 
like the land of Greece, she has become the grave of her 
own glory. When Paul preached upon the Areopagus, 
Athens was the wonder and admiration of the world, 
but the wise philosophers had no relish for the Gospel 
of salvation. Her lamp of learning has gone out in the 
midnight of ages, and her Acropolis has crumbled by 
the touch of time. 

"Imperial Rome, whose pampered soldiery offered 
insolence and injury to the Saviour, lies in ruins, a 
mighty marble wreck, the spectre of her ancient splen- 
dor, and the mere apparition of her ancient renown. ^^ 
A thousand cities lie silent, empires have passed away, 
and nations have been annihilated amid the wreck and 
rubbish of time's revolutions. 

" The God who expects good fruits curses the tree that 
bears only leaves and flowers ; and the God who looks 
for true, earnest heart worship, blasts the nation, church 



THE APOSTLES. 325 

or sect whose religion is only a myth^ and whose hearts 
and life betray the Apostolic inheritance of truth and 
grace into the hands of error^ superstition^ and the 
devil.'^ Even the seven Churches in Asia Minor did 
not escape the wrath of God. Large and flourishing 
congregations^ which left their first love, and repented 
not of their sins, had their candlestick destroyed, and 
their light extinguished by the flaming sword of Ma- 
homed, and lie buried in the long night of superstition 
and falsehood. 

Such has been the fate of all those countries which 
were the scene of the Saviour's sorrows and sufferings, 
or rejected the GospeFs offer of salvation. And all who 
will in furture pursue a like career of infidelity, hoot at 
the effects of God's mercy and try to snatch from hearts 
of sorrow the only balm of consolation, will be swept 
into the sea of oblivion, to muse and reason about the 
existence of God here doubted, and the reality of eternal 
punishment. 

Enable us now, O Lord, to follow the faith of the 
Apostles, ^Hhat we may enter at death into their joy; 
and so abide with them in rest and peace, till both they 
and we shail reach our common consummation of re- 
demption and bliss in the glorious resurrection of the 
last day.'' Amen. 



CONTKNTS. 

Df^dication, Page 3 

Preface, 5 

Introduction, 7 

Peter, 13 

Andrew, 29 

James, 31 

Philip, 36 

Bartholomew, 39 

Matthew, 44 

Thomas, 50 . 

James, 56 

Simon Zelotes, 63 

Jude, 65 

Judas Iscariot, 68 

John, 79 

Paul, 113 

His Parentage and Name, 113 

His Home Training and Trade, 116 

His Education at Jerusalem, 119 

His Conversion, 126 

At Damascus, 132 

At Arabia, 133 

His Fugitive Life, 136 

At Tarsus, 138 

At Antioch, 140 



CONTENTS. 


327 


Historical Survey of the World, 


143 


PaiiFs First Missionary Tour, 


146 


At Cyprus, 


146 


Paul in Pisidia, 


150 


At Icoinuni, 


152 


At Lystra, 


152 


At Derbe, 


156 


Apostolic Synod, 


157 


PauFs Second Missionary Tour, 


162 


Paul at Philippi, 


166 


At Thessalonica, 


174 


At Berea, 


175 


At Athens, 


176 


At Corinth, 


192 


Paul's Support, 


196 


Paul's Epistles, 


201 


His First Epistle to the Thessalonians, 


203 


His Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, 


206 


Paul's Fourth Journey to Jerusalem, 


209 


Paul's Third Missionary Tour, 


212 


Paul at Ephesus, 


215 


His First Epistle to the Corinthians, 


220 


Temple of Diana, 


224 


Alexandria Troas, 


233 


Paul's Second Visit to Philippi, 


235 


Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 


238 


His Third Visit to Corinth, 


241 



328 CONTENTS. 

His Epistle to the Romans, 243 

Last Journey to Jerusalem, 245 
His Speech to the Elders of Ephesus at Miletus, 247 

Paul at Jerusalem, 255 

His Hebrew Speech, 260 

Paul Before the Sanhedrim, 265 

A Prisoner at Jerusalem, 267 

His Trial Before Felix, 270 

Paul's Appeal to Caesar, 274 

Paul Going to Rome, 279 

The Storm and Shipwreck, 282 

Paul at Melita, 287 

Paul Again on his Way to Rome, 289. 

Paul in Rome, 292 

His First Trial, 296 

His Epistle to Philemon, 29^8 

His Epistle to Colossae, 301 

Epistle to the Ephesians, 302 

Epistle to the Philippians, 305 

PauFs Fourth Missionary Journey, 307 

His First Epistle to Timothy, 308 

His Epistle to Titus, 309 

Paul's Second Imprisonment at Rome, 310 

His Second Epistle to Timothy, 313 

Paul's Second Trial, 314 

Epistle to the Hebrews, 320 

Conclusion, 323 



THK PRODIGAL SON, 

By Rev. D. F. BRENDLE, A. M., Bethlehem, Pa. 

Press Notices, 

From Our Church Papkr. — This work has had a wide 
circiilaticn, both in English and German. That the book in 
En.<j:lish has run into the fourth edition is in itself something 
remarkable in these days, when so m^ny books die before they 
are half thi-ouuh the first edition. That Brother Brendle has 
not followed it up with other works, has been a subject of re- 
mark. When you tind a good apple under a tree, it is natural 
to look for more from the same source. 

From Pastor's Helper.— We have found it a very reada- 
able and interesting little volume, abounding in good advice 
and Scriptural knowledge. No better work could be placed in 
the hands of the young, and as it is quite cheap, we advise 
tiiose who read this notice, to send to the Reverend author at 
Bethlehem and procure a copy. 

From the Messenger. — Thi-s work is gotten up in most 
beautiful style, and in a form suited lor Sunday Schools, into 
vvhich it is linding its way outside as well as in the Reformed 
Church. It sells readily, wherevei* introduced and known, 
among our t'.imilies, as it is full of useful and practical instruc- 
tion, coming right home to the heart and conscience of young 
people, who, as is too often the case, get dissatisfied of their 
home and prematurely venture out into the world to fall a 
sacrifice to its allurements and vanities. Written in a plain, 
practical and pointed style, it cannot be read without leaving a 
good and salutary effect It deserves to tind a place in every 
family, and the solemn truths it contains to be laid earnestly to 
heart, especially by the young and those who have already 
gone astray. The sacramental and churchly, and the experi- 
mental and pra(^ticai sides of Christianity, as involved in the 
pu-able of the Prodigal Son, are brought out with clearness 
and force. 

From Dr. Harbaucih. I am glad to liear, that your book 
on the '' Prodigal Son'" has been so well received by the public. 
Your earnest, plain Hud practical exposition of that beautiful 
and touching Parable of our J^ord, cannot but do good among 
the people. It is well adapted to awaken and advance such as 
have been living in the neglect of their bapt'smaland confirma- 
tion vows, aud to call the attention of those outside of the 
Church to the rest and peace, which are only to be found in 
God's house. May it be greatly blessed to the many who read It. 

5lii^ be n ,,g' r re b e n ^ b p t e n." l^kH^ 33iict» ift cincui d)rift'{(^gefinn^ 
ten ^iiblifum briuAenb ^u cmpfeblen. I^er {<^6>\i micbti^e fotrcbl al^ tnteref^ 
fante (^eaenftaub tt)ivb ^^w ^]x. ^gvenbei in eincr \i> fnplicben unb hafttgen 
epracbe bcbanbelt, tafl bcm l^M'cr nur giite B'^'iuttc ijum Sci^en barau^ ertt?ad?* 
fen fonncn. 

Price — English 81.00. (ierman To cts. 



In Europe and America. 
By Rev. H, HARBA UGH, D. I)., 

(Continued by Rev. D. Y. HEISLER, A. M.) 



A history of the lives aad labors of the deceased ministers 
of the Retbrined Church to the close of the year 1880. In five 
volumes. 

Especially every minister as well as every intelligent mem- 
ber of the Reformed Church should possess this work, which 
records the labors of our departed mLiisters in a convenient 
form not otlierwise accessible. The work was co.nmenced and 
carried forward by the lamented Dr. Harbau^h, who spent 
much time and labor in gathering the material, both in Europe 
and America. After his death, Rev. D. Y. Keisler took his 
X)lace and continued the work down to the present time. 

Price — Bl.50 per volume. A reduction to parties purchasing 
the full set of five volumes. Sent postpaid upon receipt of the 

price. 

DANIEL MILLER, 

Reading, Pa. 



Life of Conrad Weiser, 

THE GERMAN PIONEER AND PATRIOT, 

By Rev. C. 2. Weiser, D. D, 



This is a work of great interest to all conve-'sant with Col« 
onial times and struggles. Conrad Weiser was one of the 
pioneers of Penns3^1vania, and rendered his country great ser- 
vices as Indian Interpreter. Only a few" copies are left, and all 
who desire to i:>ossess a copy, should not delay in ordering. 
Price — $1.50, free by mail ujjon receipt of price. 

DANIEL MILLER, 

Heading, Pa. 



iHIfil/CliUil ri||^ 



m\\ 



n5 



By Rev. Dr. B. Bausman. 

The subject of this work is Europe. Among the many places 
and persons described we may mention the following: Liver- 
pool, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham, Oxford, London, Am- 
sterdam, Elberfeld, Cologne, Franl^ford, Bingen, Spires, May- 
ence, Heidelberg, Basel, Berne, Ueneva, Zurich, Schaffhausen, 
the Khine Fall, Augsburg, Strasburg, Munich, Hesse, Bremen, 
Berlin, Wittenberg, Potsdam, Vienna, Prague, Venice, Dres- 
den, Milan, Florence, Genoa, Home, the Vatican, the Cata- 
combs, the Ghetto, ^'aples, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, Hercula- 
neum, Puteoli, &c, ; Dr. Guthrie, Dr. Newman, Dr. Camming, 
Spurgeon, Dr. Krummacher, Hengstenberg, Nitzsch, Bitter, 
U 11 man, the Pope, and many others. 

The author has freely miugled with the people, and describes 
their condition, habits and national peculiarities in a striking 
manner. His good judgment and rare descriptive powers en- 
able him to present to the reader just those things that are worth 
knowing and remembering. Of the many works that have 
been written on Europe, we venture to say that " Waysioe 
Gi.fc:ANiNGs" is excelled by none iu point of interest and in- 
.siructiveness. 

NOTICES FROM THE PRESS. 
The Mp:ssknger.— " The author giv^es evidence on every 
page of more than ordinary talent for careful and accurate ob- 
servation. He readily seizes hold of the most saiient points, 
and brings them prouiinently into view. He was the better 
enabled to do so, from the fact that he mingled freely with the 
people, and noted their condition, habits, and national peculi- 
arities. He Jias admirably succeeded in impai'ting interest to 
his descriptions, as well as making them fraught Avith instruc- 
tion. In this respect his work is not surpassed by any other 
written on the same subject." 

Christian VN oki.d.— '* Dr. Bausman won for himself many 
friends by his interesting accounts of travels in the Holy Land 
published some years ago under the title of" Sinai and Zion." 
From the same series of travels he has now gathered his "Glean- 
ings in Europe," and gives theui to the public in a neat volume 
published by Daniel Miller, ol Reading, Pa. A large number of 
places and persons in which the public generally is interested, 
have a new attraction thrown around them by the striking de- 
si;ri[)tions and judicious criticisms of this author." 

Reformed Era. — " Thi-s booiv is a neat companion of *' Sinai 
and Zion." It takes in the interesting points of modern Eu- 
rope, as the other does the historical places of the Bible. It is a 
good hand-book for those who want to travel in the old world, 
or is a fair substitute for those who cannot take the trip and go 
to see for themselves." 

The book is printed from new clear type and finely bound. 
Price, ^1.50. Sent free on receipt of price. Agents are wanted. 
Address, with stamp, 

DANIEL MILLER. Reading, Pa. 



Gin ^odyft intereffante^ uiiD lebvrei^e^ bciitfd)c^ 23ud). (Sine 5)ilgerreife bc^ 

bur(^ iia§ ^^eilige SauD, @gl))jteu, 'SJlroliicu ujtti. 

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3erufa(cm, ©ct[)lcl)em, 33ct(}el, @a(em, ^^k^arett), 

©er ^runnen ^tifob^, I'ibanon, )Slt. Sarniet, 

T)er -©erg ©inai, ^eric^o, ber 3orban g(ug, 

unb iiberbaupt atle intereffanten ®egenftanbe bcc |)ei(igen ^anbe^, (£benfc 
erne 33efd}reibung ber Ji^dnber ; 

(Sg^ptcn unb 2{rabien, bariinter 31(efanbrien, (Sairo, 

ST^er DiilfluB, bie ^^l^ramiben, bas rott]e 9J?eer, 

Beirut, bie ©eefiabte be§ CUen«^, u. ). m. 

Gin foId)Cv^ 33ud) tragt febr 33ie(c{^ ;;um rid^tigfu 35er|'tanbni^ ber beiligcn 
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Slgentcn wcrben veriani:^!. ^rei^ $2.00. ^Poftfrei aefanbt nad) Grapfang 
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XanicI WxUtx, ^Keabing, ^a. 

51 u ^ I e r 9? e f c r mi r t e n .f^' i r d) e n ,^ e i t u n i^.~3n eenntag^fdni^ 
len unb in ^vmiden fcblt e^ nur ;;u inel an aebbriger ^xnnt^ip ber ^irebenge^ 
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®eograpbie bev? (^elobten l^anbeCn l^r. ^Bau^mon'o ^ud) trar fpe,^iell bered>* 
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geber, uub ^ufamnu^Ui-^ej^viBt in Den :}Jabmcn einer von ^^Infaui^ bio (£nDe inter* 
effanten unb feffeluben ri^eifebcfd>reibuniv Xem 53ud) i^ebiib t ein ^U\i} in 
jeber d^riftlid^n beutfcben B'cimilie 3(mefifaa. 5Bir fi^nncn e^ mit autem Q6(* 
n)iffen unfern ^avii^^ euten :iU ein gute^ 33ud) im votlen 8inne beo iDo ted 
empfebten. 












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